This book teaches the first principles of the finite element method. It presents the theory of the finite element method while maintaining a balance between its mathematical formulation, programming implementation, and application using commercial software. The computer implementation is carried out using MATLAB, while the practical applications are carried out in both MATLAB and Abaqus. MATLAB is a high-level language specially designed for dealing with matrices, making it particularly suited for programming the finite element method, while Abaqus is a suite of commercial finite element software.