Read specific columns from a large csv file

I have a csv file of 6000 columns need to use only 3000 for my analysis. These columns are not really a range of consecutive numbers. Is there a way I can do it to save computation of reading extra data when I need only half of it?

Answer 1

[Jan]

No. A CSV file is a text file. Matlab has to read each value to find the next one. There is no magic trick to reduce the work.

Huge text files are a bad design. Text files are useful, if they are read or modified by human. In all other cases binary files are much better, most of all faster to read, especially if you need some parts only.