PostgreSQL “DESCRIBE TABLE”

From the psql command line interface,

First, choose your database

\c database_name

Then, this shows all tables in the current schema:

\dt

Programmatically (or from the psql interface too, of course):

SELECT * FROM pg_catalog.pg_tables;

The system tables live in the pg_catalog database.

Yes, SERIAL is the equivalent function.

CREATE TABLE foo (
    id SERIAL,
    bar varchar
);

INSERT INTO foo (bar) VALUES ('blah');
INSERT INTO foo (bar) VALUES ('blah');

SELECT * FROM foo;

+----------+
| 1 | blah |
+----------+
| 2 | blah |
+----------+

SERIAL is just a create table time macro around sequences. You can not alter SERIAL onto an existing column.