Matlab’s built-in memory() command does not work on Linux or Mac. Our matlab-stdlib provides ways to do this on any OS. Check available RAM with Matlab or GNU Octave: stdlib.sys.memfree. Check if an array can be created in RAM: stdlib.sys.checkRAM.

Matlab option Preferences → MATLAB → Workspace → Matlab array size limit attempts to stop the user from creating arrays that dig into swap memory (extremely slow).

Related: free disk space check Matlab