MySQL Describe Table

To describe a table in MySQL, you can use the DESCRIBE or DESC statement. These statements provide information about the structure of a table, including the column names, data types, and any constraints. Here’s the basic syntax:

DESCRIBE table_name;

or

DESC table_name;

• table_name: The name of the table you want to describe.

For example, to describe the structure of a table named “students,” you would use the following SQL statement:

DESCRIBE students;

or

DESC students;

Upon executing this command, MySQL will return a result set with information about the table’s columns, including the column name, data type, whether it allows null values, the default value, and any additional information such as the auto-increment property.

Here’s an example of what the output might look like:

+------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field      | Type        | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
+------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| student_id | int(11)     | NO   | PRI | NULL    | auto_increment |
| first_name | varchar(50) | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
| last_name  | varchar(50) | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
| age        | int(11)     | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
+------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+

In this example, the table “students” has four columns, each with its data type, nullability, and other information.

The DESCRIBE or DESC statement is a valuable tool for understanding the structure of a table, particularly when working with an unfamiliar database or when you need to verify the columns and their characteristics for use in your queries and applications.