feat: make it easier to create empty tables (#942)

This PR also reworks the table creation utilities significantly so that
they are more consistent, built on top of each other, and thoroughly
documented.

node/tsconfig.json

@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@
     "declaration": true,
     "outDir": "./dist",
     "strict": true,
-    // "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "sourceMap": true,
   }
 }