SQL EXPLAIN and DESCRIBE DESCRIBE tablename;
Example
DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN are synonyms. DESCRIBE on a tablename returns the definition of the columns.
DESCRIBE tablename;
Exmple Result:
COLUMN_NAME COLUMN_TYPE IS_NULLABLE COLUMN_KEY COLUMN_DEFAULT EXTRA
id int(11) NO PRI 0 auto_increment
test varchar(255) YES (null)
Here you see the column names, followed by the columns type. It shows if null is allowed in the column and if the column uses an Index. the default value is also displayed and if the table contains any special behavior like an auto_increment.
