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This chapter describes the file structure of a netCDF classic or 64-bit offset dataset in enough detail to aid in understanding netCDF performance issues.
NetCDF is a data abstraction for array-oriented data access and a software library that provides a concrete implementation of the interfaces that support that abstraction. The implementation provides a machine-independent format for representing arrays. Although the netCDF file format is hidden below the interfaces, some understanding of the current implementation and associated file structure may help to make clear why some netCDF operations are more expensive than others.
For a detailed description of the netCDF format, see File Structure and Performance. Knowledge of the format is not needed for reading and writing netCDF data or understanding most efficiency issues. Programs that use only the documented interfaces and that make no assumptions about the format will continue to work even if the netCDF format is changed in the future, because any such change will be made below the documented interfaces and will support earlier versions of the netCDF file format.