CSS vs Tables
Out of context: Reply #23
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- CAJTBr0
i feel bad using tables, but i still have to do it occasionally. tables make code messy and overcomplex. css makes code simple, but css with all the hacks you have to implement to get it to work right cross-browser can be just as messy.
standards will be good when they truly exist. at the moment, there are too many browsers in circulation that don't support them for them to even really be called standards.
thenoodleincident's box models are prime examples - half of them don't even display right in ie5.5, let alone netscape4.7, which depending on your (or your client's) target audience, can make tables the only viable option. sure, the noodleincident argue that if you stick to the standards, in 20 years time people will still be able to view your site, but that will hardly reassure a client who wants a website which is viewable and good looking today.
one of the main problems i find with css is that it is painful to use if you want cross-browser sites that look pretty. it's easy to make sites that have that css look (again eg thenoodleincident, and most of the sites it links to), but if you're dealing with imported content (and thus can't usually use absolute positioning) simple things like keeping bottoms of columns aligned become a real mess.