What exactly is [MATLAB/Simulink?](http://www.mathworks.com) I've tried to understand it but have only gotten more confused in the process.

I know that you can write programs utilizing high-level **industry-specific functions** and algorithms but:

* Is it a **runtime** where you can 'build' your code into an exectable program for a Client/Server?
* Is it only a **simulation** environment, like [LabVIEW](http://www.ni.com/labview/), not to be used in production software/hardware?
* Is it a **code generation** software, like [compiler-compilers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parser_generator) which does not really execute code itself?