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

Something important to know for anybody who hasn't found their solution yet: SQL server != MYSQL. If you want to do it with MYSQL, it is quite simple

    $sql = "SELECT 1 FROM `db_name`.`table_name` LIMIT 1;";
    $result = mysql_query($sql);
    if( $result == false )
        echo "table DOES NOT EXIST";
    else
        echo "table exists";

Posting this here because it's the top hit at Google.