| Beginner - Basic usage | PetscSFNode | PetscSFSynchronizationType | PetscSFView |
| Intermediate - Setting options for algorithms and data structures | PetscSFBcastBegin | PetscSFGatherEnd | PetscSFScatterBegin |
| PetscSFBcastEnd | PetscSFGetGraph | PetscSFScatterEnd |
| PetscSFCreate | PetscSF | PetscSFSetFromOptions |
| PetscSFDestroy | PetscSFReduceBegin | PetscSFSetGraph |
| PetscSFGatherBegin | PetscSFReduceEnd | PetscSFSetSynchronizationType |
| Advanced - Setting more advanced options and customization | PetscSFComputeDegreeBegin | PetscSFFetchAndOpBegin | PetscSFSetRankOrder |
| PetscSFCreateEmbeddedSF | PetscSFFetchAndOpEnd | |
| PetscSFCreateInverseSF | PetscSFReset | |
| Developer - Interfaces intended primarily for library developers, not for typical applications programmers | PetscSFComputeDegreeEnd | PetscSFGetGroups | PetscSFInitializePackage |
| PetscSFFinalizePackage | PetscSFGetMultiSF | PetscSFRestoreWindow |
| PetscSFFindWindow | PetscSFGetRanks | |
| PetscSFGetDataTypes | PetscSFGetWindow | |
| No deprecated routines | ||