diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3450e8b..03ce1ff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 [![Build Status](https://github.com/JuliaSpacePhysics/CommonDataFormat.jl/actions/workflows/CI.yml/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://github.com/JuliaSpacePhysics/CommonDataFormat.jl/actions/workflows/CI.yml?query=branch%3Amain)
 [![Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/JuliaSpacePhysics/CommonDataFormat.jl/branch/main/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/JuliaSpacePhysics/CommonDataFormat.jl)
 
-A Julia package for reading [Common Data Format (CDF)](https://cdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/) files, widely used in space physics for storing multidimensional data arrays and metadata. See [CDFDatasets.jl](https://github.com/JuliaSpacePhysics/CDFDatasets.jl) for high-level interfaces.
+A pure Julia implementation for reading [Common Data Format (CDF)](https://cdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/) files, widely used in space physics for storing multidimensional data arrays and metadata. See [CDFDatasets.jl](https://github.com/JuliaSpacePhysics/CDFDatasets.jl) for high-level interfaces.
 
 ## Quick Start
 
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ var = cdf["temperature"]
 
 ## Features
 
-- **Pure Julia implementation** - No external dependencies on CDF libraries
 - **Efficient data access** - Memory-mapped access for data and attributes, super fast decompression using [`LibDeflate`](https://github.com/jakobnissen/LibDeflate.jl)
 - **[DiskArrays.jl](https://github.com/JuliaIO/DiskArrays.jl) integration** - Lazy representation of data on hard disk with AbstractDiskArray interface
 
diff --git a/test/perf_test_ntoh.jl b/benchmark/perf_test_ntoh.jl
similarity index 100%
rename from test/perf_test_ntoh.jl
rename to benchmark/perf_test_ntoh.jl
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index f5d993d..f73fbff 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -8,10 +8,3 @@ perf:
     @time var2 = ds["elb_pef_hs_epa_spec"]
     @time Array(var2)
     @time Array(ds["elb_pef_fs_time"])
-
-snoop:
-    #!/usr/bin/env -S julia --threads=auto --project=. -i
-    using SnoopCompileCore
-    invs = @snoop_invalidations using CommonDataFormat
-    using SnoopCompile, AbstractTrees
-    trees = invalidation_trees(invs)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/enums.jl b/src/enums.jl
index a8b1771..e46207c 100644
--- a/src/enums.jl
+++ b/src/enums.jl
@@ -45,24 +45,18 @@ Base.:(==)(x::T, y::RecordType) where {T <: Integer} = x == T(y)
 Base.:(==)(x::DataType, y::T) where {T <: Integer} = T(x) == y
 Base.:(==)(x::T, y::DataType) where {T <: Integer} = x == T(y)
 
-const type_map = Dict(
-    CDF_INT1 => Int8,
-    CDF_INT2 => Int16,
-    CDF_INT4 => Int32,
-    CDF_INT8 => Int64,
-    CDF_UINT1 => UInt8,
-    CDF_UINT2 => UInt16,
-    CDF_UINT4 => UInt32,
-    CDF_REAL4 => Float32,
-    CDF_REAL8 => Float64,
-    CDF_BYTE => Int8,
-    CDF_FLOAT => Float32,
-    CDF_DOUBLE => Float64,
+# code → eltype for fixed-size types ordered roughly by frequency
+const CODE_TYPE_PAIRS = (
+    (21, Float32), (22, Float64), (44, Float32), (45, Float64),
+    (33, TT2000), (31, Epoch), (32, Epoch16),
+    (1, Int8), (2, Int16), (4, Int32), (8, Int64),
+    (11, UInt8), (12, UInt16), (14, UInt32), (41, Int8),
+)
+
+const type_map = Dict{DataType, Type}(
+    Dict(DataType(c) => T for (c, T) in CODE_TYPE_PAIRS)...,
     CDF_CHAR => UInt8,
     CDF_UCHAR => UInt8,
-    CDF_EPOCH => Epoch,
-    CDF_EPOCH16 => Epoch16,
-    CDF_TIME_TT2000 => TT2000
 )
 
 function julia_type(cdf_type, num_elems)
diff --git a/src/loading/variable.jl b/src/loading/variable.jl
index e362dea..2c9bb1d 100644
--- a/src/loading/variable.jl
+++ b/src/loading/variable.jl
@@ -40,22 +40,41 @@ end
 function variable(cdf::CDFDataset, name)
     vdr = find_vdr(cdf, name)
     isnothing(vdr) && throw(KeyError(name))
-    T = julia_type(vdr.data_type, vdr.num_elems)
-    dims = (record_sizes(vdr)..., vdr.max_rec + 1)
-    N = vdr isa VDR ? vdr.num_dims + 1 : length(dims)
-    return CDFVariable{T, N, typeof(vdr), typeof(cdf)}(
-        name, vdr, cdf, dims
+    return _variable(cdf, name, vdr)
+end
+
+# Branch over dimension count so each leaf builds dims tuple at compile time statically
+function _variable(cdf, name, vdr)
+    M = num_record_dims(vdr)
+    return Base.Cartesian.@nif 12 d -> (M == d - 1) d -> (
+        d == 12 ? throw(ArgumentError("variable has $M dimensions; the CDF format allows at most 10")) :
+            _variable(cdf, name, vdr, Val(d - 1))
+    )
+end
+
+function _variable(cdf, name, vdr, ::Val{M}) where {M}
+    dims = (map(Int, record_sizes(vdr, Val(M)))..., Int(vdr.max_rec) + 1)
+    code = Int(vdr.data_type)
+    if code == 51 || code == 52 # CHAR/UCHAR: eltype depends on runtime num_elems
+        T = StaticString{Int(vdr.num_elems), UInt8}
+        return CDFVariable{T, M + 1, typeof(vdr), typeof(cdf)}(name, vdr, cdf, dims)
+    end
+    # Branch to static constructor per element type
+    return Base.Cartesian.@nif(
+        16,
+        d -> code == CODE_TYPE_PAIRS[d][1],
+        d -> _construct(cdf, name, vdr, dims, CODE_TYPE_PAIRS[d][2]),
+        d -> throw(ArgumentError("unsupported CDF data type $code"))
     )
 end
 
+@inline _construct(cdf, name, vdr, dims::NTuple{N, Int}, ::Type{T}) where {N, T} =
+    CDFVariable{T, N, typeof(vdr), typeof(cdf)}(name, vdr, cdf, dims)
+
 """
     read!(ds::CDFDataset, name, dest::AbstractArray{T, N}) -> dest
 
 Read the full contents of variable `name` into the preallocated `dest`.
-
-Statically-typed entry point: `T` and `N` come from `dest` instead of the file, so —
-unlike `ds[name]`, whose type is only known at runtime — the call chain is resolvable
-at compile time and survives `juliac --trim`.
 """
 function Base.read!(ds::CDFDataset, name::String, dest::AbstractArray{T, N}) where {T, N}
     vdr = find_vdr(ds, name)
diff --git a/src/records/vdr.jl b/src/records/vdr.jl
index 05dfdfc..3738fe7 100644
--- a/src/records/vdr.jl
+++ b/src/records/vdr.jl
@@ -113,6 +113,16 @@ function record_sizes(vdr::rVDR, ::Val{M}) where {M}
     return ntuple(i -> sizes[i], Val(M))
 end
 
+num_record_dims(vdr::VDR) = Int(vdr.num_dims)
+function num_record_dims(vdr::rVDR)
+    n = 0
+    for i in 1:Int(vdr.gdr.r_num_dims)
+        n += read_be(vdr.buffer, vdr.pos + (i - 1) * 4, Int32) != 0
+    end
+    return n
+end
+
+
 function Base.size(vdr::AbstractVDR)
     records = vdr.max_rec + 1
     dims = (record_sizes(vdr)..., records)
diff --git a/src/staticstring.jl b/src/staticstring.jl
index 7cc5b7d..9bf8d72 100644
--- a/src/staticstring.jl
+++ b/src/staticstring.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # https://github.com/mkitti/StaticStrings.jl
 # https://github.com/JuliaPy/PythonCall.jl/blob/main/src/Utils/Utils.jl
-using Base: between
 
 struct StaticString{N, T} <: AbstractString
     codeunits::NTuple{N, T}
@@ -8,12 +7,10 @@ struct StaticString{N, T} <: AbstractString
 end
 
 function Base.iterate(x::StaticString{N, UInt8}, i::Int = 1) where {N}
-    i > N && return
+    i > ncodeunits(x) && return
     cs = x.codeunits
     c = @inbounds cs[i]
-    if all(iszero, (cs[j] for j in i:N))
-        return
-    elseif (c & 0x80) == 0x00
+    if (c & 0x80) == 0x00
         return (reinterpret(Char, UInt32(c) << 24), i + 1)
     elseif (c & 0x40) == 0x00
         nothing
@@ -56,12 +53,25 @@ function Base.iterate(x::StaticString{N, UInt8}, i::Int = 1) where {N}
     throw(StringIndexError(x, i))
 end
 
-function Base.String(x::StaticString{N, T}) where {N, T}
-    b = Base.StringVector(N)
-    return String(b .= x.codeunits)
+function Base.String(x::StaticString)
+    n = ncodeunits(x)
+    b = Base.StringVector(n)
+    @inbounds for i in 1:n
+        b[i] = x.codeunits[i]
+    end
+    return String(b)
 end
 
-@inline Base.ncodeunits(::StaticString{N}) where {N} = N
+# CDF CHAR values are fixed-width null-padded; the string ends at the trailing-null run
+# so length/collect/String agree with iterate truncating there.
+@inline function Base.ncodeunits(s::StaticString{N}) where {N}
+    cs = s.codeunits
+    n = N
+    while n > 0 && iszero(@inbounds cs[n])
+        n -= 1
+    end
+    return n
+end
 Base.codeunit(::StaticString{N, T}) where {N, T} = T
 Base.@propagate_inbounds Base.codeunit(s::StaticString, i::Int) = s.codeunits[i]
 
@@ -71,23 +81,4 @@ function StaticString(cu::Base.CodeUnits{T}) where {T}
 end
 StaticString(s::AbstractString) = StaticString(codeunits(s))
 
-Base.isvalid(s::StaticString, i::Int) = checkbounds(Bool, s, i) && thisind(s, i) == i
-Base.thisind(s::StaticString, i::Int) = _thisind_str(s, i)
-
-@inline function _thisind_str(s, i::Int)
-    i == 0 && return 0
-    n = ncodeunits(s)
-    i == n + 1 && return i
-    @boundscheck between(i, 1, n) || throw(BoundsError(s, i))
-    @inbounds b = codeunit(s, i)
-    (b & 0xc0 == 0x80) & (i - 1 > 0) || return i
-    @inbounds b = codeunit(s, i - 1)
-    between(b, 0b11000000, 0b11110111) && return i - 1
-    (b & 0xc0 == 0x80) & (i - 2 > 0) || return i
-    @inbounds b = codeunit(s, i - 2)
-    between(b, 0b11100000, 0b11110111) && return i - 2
-    (b & 0xc0 == 0x80) & (i - 3 > 0) || return i
-    @inbounds b = codeunit(s, i - 3)
-    between(b, 0b11110000, 0b11110111) && return i - 3
-    return i
-end
+Base.isvalid(s::StaticString, i::Int) = checkbounds(Bool, s, i) && Base._thisind_str(s, i) == i
diff --git a/test/debug.jl b/test/debug.jl
deleted file mode 100644
index cc7e686..0000000
--- a/test/debug.jl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-using CommonDataFormat
-ds=CDFDataset("data/mms1_scm_srvy_l2_scsrvy_20190301_v2.2.0.cdf")
-ds["mms1_scm_acb_gse_scsrvy_srvy_l2"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index fb1bb75..88ab575 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ include("epochs_test.jl")
 include("comprehensive_test.jl")
 include("cdf2_test.jl")
 include("CommonDataModelExt_test.jl")
-include("staticstring.jl")
+@testset "StaticString" begin
+    include("staticstring.jl")
+end
 
 @testset "Aqua" begin
     using Aqua
diff --git a/test/staticstring.jl b/test/staticstring.jl
index 20695a3..5989110 100644
--- a/test/staticstring.jl
+++ b/test/staticstring.jl
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 using CommonDataFormat: StaticString
 using Test
 
-@testset "StaticString" begin
+@testset "Basic operations" begin
     s = "Hello, World!"
     ss = StaticString(s)
 
-    StaticString(codeunits(s))
+    @test StaticString(codeunits(s)) == s
     @test ss == s
     @test String(ss) == s
     @test !isempty(ss)
@@ -15,3 +15,21 @@ using Test
 
     @test codeunit(ss) == UInt8
 end
+
+@testset "Null padding and UTF-8" begin
+    # null padding: iterate/length/collect/String must agree
+    pad = StaticString{8, UInt8}((UInt8('a'), UInt8('b'), zeros(UInt8, 6)...))
+    @test ncodeunits(pad) == 2
+    @test length(pad) == 2
+    @test collect(pad) == ['a', 'b']
+    @test String(pad) == "ab"
+    @test pad == "ab"
+    @test isempty(StaticString{4, UInt8}(ntuple(_ -> 0x00, 4)))
+
+    # multi-byte UTF-8 indexing
+    s = StaticString("héllo")
+    @test collect(s) == collect("héllo")
+    @test thisind(s, 3) == 2
+    @test isvalid(s, 2) && !isvalid(s, 3)
+    @test length(s) == 5 && ncodeunits(s) == 6
+end