What is the purpose of the MySQL DESC command?
The DESC command is a query statement in MySQL used to display the structure of a table. When using the DESC command, it will return a result set containing information about the specified table.
Specifically, DESC returns the following information:
- column name
- The data type of a column
- Is NULL allowed (can it be empty)?
- default value (if any)
- Indicate key information (e.g. PRI indicates primary key)
By examining the structure of the table, we can understand the columns it contains, the data types of each column, which columns allow NULL values, whether there are default values, and if there are any indexes set. This information is crucial for database design, querying, and development, as it helps developers gain a better understanding of the table structure and facilitates corresponding operations.
