<literal>mytable</literal>.  Unlike databases,
   schemas are not rigidly separated: a user can access objects in any
   of the schemas in the database they are connected to, if they have
   privileges to do so.
  </para>

  <para>
   There are several reasons why one might want to use schemas:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      To allow many users to use one database without interfering with
      each other.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      To organize database objects into logical groups to make them
      more manageable.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Third-party applications can be put into separate schemas so
      they do not collide with the names of other objects.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>

   Schemas are analogous to directories at the operating system level,
   except that schemas cannot be nested.
  </para>

  <sect2 id="ddl-schemas-create">
   <title>Creating a Schema</title>

   <indexterm zone="ddl-schemas-create">
    <primary>schema</primary>
    <secondary>creating</secondary>
   </indexterm>

   <para>
    To create a schema, use the <xref linkend="sql-createschema"/>
    command.  Give the schema a name
    of your choice.  For example:
<programlisting>
CREATE SCHEMA myschema;
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <indexterm>
    <primary>qualified name</primary>
   </indexterm>

   <indexterm>
    <primary>name</primary>
    <secondary>qualified</secondary>
   </indexterm>

   <para>
    To create or access objects in a schema, write a
    <firstterm>qualified name</firstterm> consisting of the schema name and
    table name separated by a dot:
<synopsis>
<replaceable>schema</replaceable><literal>.</literal><replaceable>table</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    This works anywhere a table name is expected, including the table
    modification commands and the data access commands discussed in
    the following chapters.
    (For brevity we will speak of tables only, but the same ideas apply
    to other kinds of named objects, such as types and functions.)
   </para>

   <para>
    Actually, the even more general syntax
<synopsis>
<replaceable>database</replaceable><literal>.</literal><replaceable>schema</replaceable><literal>.</literal><replaceable>table</replaceable>
</synopsis>
    can be used too, but at present this is just for pro forma
    compliance with the SQL standard.  If you write a database name,
    it must be the same as the database you are connected to.
   </para>

   <para>
    So to create a table in the new schema, use:
<programlisting>
CREATE TABLE myschema.mytable (
 ...
);
</programlisting>
   </para>

   <indexterm>
    <primary>schema</primary>
    <secondary>removing</secondary>
   </indexterm>

   <para>
    To drop a schema if it's empty (all objects in it have been
    dropped), use:
<programlisting>
DROP SCHEMA myschema;
</programlisting>
    To drop a schema including all contained objects, use:
<programlisting>
DROP SCHEMA myschema CASCADE;
</programlisting>
    See <xref linkend="ddl-depend"/> for a description of the general
    mechanism behind this.
   </para>

   <para>
    Often you will want to create a schema owned by someone else
    (since this is one of the ways to restrict the activities of your
    users to well-defined namespaces).  The syntax for that is:
<programlisting>
CREATE SCHEMA <replaceable>schema_name</replaceable> AUTHORIZATION <replaceable>user_name</replaceable>;
</programlisting>
    You can even omit the schema name, in which case the schema name
    will be the same as the user name.  See <xref
    linkend="ddl-schemas-patterns"/> for how this can be useful.
   </para>

   <para>
    Schema names beginning with <literal>pg_</literal> are reserved for
    system purposes and cannot be created by users.
   </para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="ddl-schemas-public">
   <title>The Public Schema</title>

   <indexterm zone="ddl-schemas-public">
    <primary>schema</primary>