Find Available Tables In A DB

I am brand new to using SQL. I created a DB with a bunch of tables there. What I would like to do is from my VB.NET application I would like to allow the user to see what tables are available in that DB.



Also I need a way to check if a table exists. I used the following:

strTemp = "IF EXISTS " & _
"(SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'simplesql') AND type in (N'U'))"
cmd.Connection = conncmd.CommandType = CommandType.Textcmdcmd.ExecuteNonQuery()

but I get an exception : Incorrect syntax near ')'

thanks for your help