Check if table exists in SQL Server

Question

I would like this to be the ultimate discussion on how to check if a table exists in SQL Server 2000/2005 using SQL Statements.

When you Google for the answer, you g

Answer 1

You can use this :

     IF OBJECT_ID (N'dbo.T', N'U') IS NOT NULL 
        BEGIN 
            print 'deleted table';
            drop table t 
        END
     else 
        begin 
            print 'table not found' 
        end

 Create table t (id int identity(1,1) not null, name varchar(30) not null, lastname varchar(25) null)
 insert into t( name, lastname) values('john','doe');
 insert into t( name, lastname) values('rose',NULL);

 Select * from t
1   john    doe
2   rose    NULL

 -- clean
 drop table t