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[DOC] Glossary page for core concepts #651
Description
New contributors and users frequently confuse chunks, blocks, frames, and superchunks — terms that appear throughout the API but are never defined in one place. The getting-started section has no glossary.
Suggested work: Create doc/getting_started/glossary.rst (and link it from doc/getting_started/index.rst) defining at minimum:
- SChunk, frame, chunk, block, subblock
- Compression parameters (cparams): codec, clevel, filters
- NDArray vs CTable vs SChunk — when to use each
- Index types: SUMMARY, BUCKET, PARTIAL, FULL, OPSI — one-sentence each
Each term should link to the relevant API reference page.
Activity
lanceu0128 commentedon Sep 20, 2026
I'll take this issue if you don't mind @FrancescAlted (I'm in the NumFocus program)
FrancescAlted commentedon Sep 21, 2026
Hi @lanceu0128 ! Sure, go ahead.
lanceu0128 commentedon Sep 21, 2026
Actually, someone already took this issue on the separate tracker for NumFocus. I've claimed #652 there instead. @FrancescAlted
FrancescAlted commentedon Sep 22, 2026
Well, it is not necessary to choose different tickets for everyone. For example, this is a big one deserving quite a bit of work. Share it with another guy and collaborate!
lanceu0128 commentedon Sep 23, 2026
Update: we discussed this offline, I'll continue working on this issue #651 with Kumal instead of #652
lanceu0128 commentedon Sep 29, 2026
Opened up a draft PR. Currently has half of the terms @FrancescAlted requested + LazyExpr and LazyArray.
FrancescAlted commentedon Sep 30, 2026
Hey @lanceu0128 . This is looking good. Maybe I'd split it in 3 or 4 sections, like:
I think this should improve readability.
lanceu0128 commentedon Oct 2, 2026
@FrancescAlted We've finished our work, including the split you suggested. Just opened the PR officially.