MySQL CREATE TABLE
The CREATE TABLE statement allows you to create a new table in a database.
The following illustrates the basic syntax of the CREATE TABLE statement:
CREATE TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] table_name(
column_1_definition,
column_2_definition,
...,
table_constraints
) ENGINE=storage_engine;
Let’s examine the syntax in greater detail.
First, you specify the name of the table that you want to create after the CREATE TABLE keywords. The table name must be unique within a database. The IF NOT EXISTS is optional. It allows you to check if the table that you create already exists in the database. If this is the case, MySQL will ignore the whole statement and will not create any new table.
Second, you specify a list of columns of the table in the column_list section, columns are separated by commas.
Third, you can optionally specify the storage engine for the table in the ENGINE clause. You can use any storage engine such as InnoDB and MyISAM. If you don’t explicitly declare a storage engine, MySQL will use InnoDB by default.