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Vectors serve as a way to perform computations with diverse data types. For instance, arrays of values can be extracted as vectors from data types such as fieldset, geopoints, netcdf, odb and table. Some of these types also allow their arrays to be set using vectors.
Much of the vector functionality can also be achieved using lists of numbers, but vectors are significantly more efficient for larger sets of numbers (say 1000 or more elements), as lists are not designed to process those quantities of data.
Vectors can also be passed to inline Fortran or C/C++ code for further processing.
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