How to create a table in PostgreSQL

If you're learning SQL or PostgreSQL, it's useful to know that there are several ways to create a table — depending on your use case.

1. Standard CREATE TABLE Classic method for defining schema explicitly.

2. CREATE TABLE AS (CTAS) Creates a new table from a query result.

3. LIKE Copies structure (columns, types) from another table.

4. Inheritance Less common feature — a child table inherits columns from a parent.

5. Temporary tables Session-local tables often used in ETL or analytics steps.

Examples:

CREATE TABLE users (id serial PRIMARY KEY, name text);

CREATE TABLE active_users AS SELECT * FROM users WHERE is_active = true;

CREATE TABLE archived_users (LIKE users);

CREATE TABLE premium_users (subscription_level text) INHERITS (users);

CREATE TEMP TABLE tmp AS SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 100;

If you'd like, I can post beginner-friendly breakdowns of: • SERIAL vs IDENTITY
• Primary key patterns
• Common SELECT patterns for analytics