ntotal

ntotal is a variable name used in many domains to denote the total number of items under consideration. Its exact meaning is context dependent and not standardized across disciplines. In programming, ntotal commonly stores the size of a collection, such as the number of elements in an array, list, or dataset. It may be computed as the length or cardinality of the object, for example ntotal = len(dataset) in Python, or ntotal = number_of_rows(table) in data queries. In statistical analysis, ntotal typically represents the total number of observations or experimental units, the denominator in proportions, or the population size in simulations. In physics, chemistry, and materials science, ntotal can denote the total number of particles, lattice sites, or particles in a model, often used to scale quantities or to define normalization factors. In data processing and databases, ntotal may refer to the total rows in a table or the total records returned by a query.

Best practices: when using ntotal, define it clearly in documentation or comments to avoid ambiguity, especially when multiple totals exist (for example ntotal, nsub, and niters). Naming variants include Ntotal, Ntot, or ntot, with capitalization often indicating different conventions within a codebase. See also related terms such as N, n, length, cardinality, and size.