how to create matrix of string and use it in mathematic operation?

example

a=[1;0;1;1;0]

b=[ben;james;mike;ralph;will]

c=a.*b

c=[ben;mike;ralph]

Answer 1

[Matt J]

Use a cell array of strings for b and use logical indexing instead of a.*b,

>> b={'ben';'james';'mike';'ralph';'will'};
>> a=logical([1;0;1;1;0]);
>> b(a)

ans = 

      'ben'
      'mike'
      'ralph'

[Andrei Bobrov]

char(bsxfun(@times,char(b),a))

Answer 2

[Matt J]

Speaking of mathematical operations with strings, ever wonder what you get when you cross a cat with an owl?

>> cross('cat','owl')

ans =

         -3328        2184        1014

[Matt J]

I never get tired of this one! :-)