Impala database containment model

Every Impala table is contained within a namespace called a database. The default database is called default, and you can create and drop additional databases as desired.

To create the database, use a CREATE DATABASE statement. To use the database for further Impala operations such as CREATE TABLE, use the USE statement.

For example, to create a table in a database called impala_kudu, use the following statements:
CREATE DATABASE impala_kudu;
USE impala_kudu;
CREATE TABLE my_first_table (
...

The my_first_table table is created within the impala_kudu database.

The prefix impala:: and the Impala database name are appended to the underlying Kudu table name: impala::<database>.<table>

For example, to specify the my_first_table table in database impala_kudu, as opposed to any other table with the same name in another database, refer to the table as impala::impala_kudu.my_first_table. This also applies to INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and DROP statements.