2008 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > Overview of netCDF
2.1 NetCDF's Niche
Where does netCDF fit among database systems,
XML dialects, international standards,
and competing software?
NetCDF differs from alternative ways to
store data, because it:
- Uses a simple file-oriented model for portable, self-describing data
(unlike databases)
- Emphasizes efficient direct access (unlike XML)
- Provides a multidimensional array abstraction for scientific
applications (unlike databases and XML)
- Avoids references to external tables (unlike GRIB and BUFR)
- Sacrifices some power for simplicity with a relatively simple
programming interface (unlike HDF5).
- Has a large enough community of users to foster development of:
- support in many third-party applications
- third-party APIs for many scripting languages
- remote access via several network protocols
- development of community conventions, such as Climate and
Forecast (CF) metadata conventions
2008 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > Overview of netCDF
