Basically, it lets you reuse something, but you can transform it and set some styles.
http://kaioa.com/svg/chemicalzen3.svg
http://kaioa.com/svg/chemicalzen3_parts.png
The "master" shape is used to create the outline and it's also used to clip the "interior" layer.
http://kaioa.com/svg/armyofclonesani.svgz
There is just one dude. Then there is a row of clones. And then there are transformed clones of that row. Only the original dude is animated.
Edit: A big benefit of clones is that they are always in sync. If you change the shape of the original, the clones follow suit.
Here an example, where a whole svg document is linked to from another svg element (scaled with viewBox):
<div> <svg viewBox="0 0 500 500" width="200" height="75"> <g> <use xlink:href="#BaseQuality-svg"></use> </g> </svg> </div>
Basically, it lets you reuse something, but you can transform it and set some styles.
http://kaioa.com/svg/chemicalzen3.svg
http://kaioa.com/svg/chemicalzen3_parts.png
The "master" shape is used to create the outline and it's also used to clip the "interior" layer.
http://kaioa.com/svg/armyofclonesani.svgz
There is just one dude. Then there is a row of clones. And then there are transformed clones of that row. Only the original dude is animated.
Edit: A big benefit of clones is that they are always in sync. If you change the shape of the original, the clones follow suit.