Scalars
=======

A scalar is a single atomic value like the integer ``1``, the string ``"hello"``, or the structure
``{"age": 55, "name": "Angela"}``. The :meth:`.Array.scalar_at` method
returns a native Python value when the cost of doing so is small. However, for larger values like
binary data, UTF-8 strings, variable-length lists, and structures, Vortex returns a zero-copy *view*
of the Array data. The ``into_python`` method of each view will copy the scalar into a native Python
value.

.. autosummary::
   :nosignatures:

   ~vortex.scalar.Buffer
   ~vortex.scalar.BufferString
   ~vortex.scalar.VortexList
   ~vortex.scalar.VortexStruct

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.. automodule:: vortex.scalar
   :members:
   :imported-members: