====== Namespace ======

[[dido:99_annexes:annex-b-terms-and-definitions:start|Go to Terms and Definitions]]

===== Discussion =====

A Namespace establishes a scope within which names or identifiers are interpreted and distinguished from other names or identifiers.

Namespaces allow independently governed naming systems to use the same local names without creating ambiguity or collision.

A Namespace may be associated with an organization, Domain, specification, vocabulary, schema, information model, service, or other governed naming context.

For example, two independently governed Domains may each define an object named:

><code>
Test-001
</code>

When each name occurs within a different Namespace, the two objects remain distinguishable.

Namespaces are especially important in distributed systems because naming authorities may operate independently and without centralized coordination.

A Namespace may also establish governance over:

  * who may assign names within the Namespace
  * naming conventions
  * uniqueness requirements
  * persistence requirements
  * subordinate Namespaces
  * resolution or interpretation rules

The conceptual Namespace does not prescribe how the Namespace is represented. A Namespace may subsequently be represented using a URI, identifier, hierarchical name, or another logical representation.

===== Definition =====

//a governed scope within which names or identifiers are interpreted and distinguished//

===== Note =====

A Namespace provides naming scope. It does not, by itself, identify the thing named within that scope.

The combination of a Namespace and a name or identifier may provide an identity that is distinguishable from the same name or identifier used within another Namespace.

A Namespace is conceptually independent of the logical notation used to represent it.

===== Example =====

Two Domains may independently define:

><code>
Test-001
</code>

Using different Namespaces allows the identifiers to remain distinguishable:

><code>
Domain-A / Test-001
Domain-B / Test-001
</code>

The notation shown is illustrative and does not prescribe a logical Namespace representation.

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