Functions are organized according to the netCDF data model.

NetCDF File and Data I/O	NetCDF opens datasets as files or remote access URLs
Dimensions	Dimensions are used to define the shape of data in netCDF
Variables	Variables hold multi-dimensional arrays of data
Attributes	Attributes hold metadata about data and files
Groups	NetCDF-4 added support for hierarchical groups within netCDF datasets
User-Defined Types	User defined types allow for more complex data structures
The Version 2 API	NetCDF's modern history began with the introduction of the V2 netCDF API by Glenn Davis and Russ Rew in 1991
NetCDF Error Handling	Each netCDF function in the C, Fortran 77, and Fortran 90 APIs returns 0 on success, in the tradition of C