[thelist] why doth i hate css? let me count the ways.

Peter-Paul Koch gassinaumasis at hotmail.com
Sat Oct 11 05:59:25 CDT 2003


> > >It would be simple enough if I could specify, somehow, that both the
> > >right-hand panel and the left-hand panel are the same height as
> > > their container, which should be the body.
> > >
> > >With tables this design is a no-brainer.... one table, 100% height,
> > > spacer column between the navigation and content cells, etc.  Too
> > > easy.  But with css... I don't know if it's possible.
> > >
> > >Thoughts?
> >
> > Just use a table.
>
>Because that's not what tables are for. Tables are for tabular data (the
>"Table 1" you would see in a textbook) not layout boxes.

Theoretically, yes. In practice, no.

Since CSS doesn´t offer the tools for creating a good grid, using one table 
for layout purposes is quite legitimate. Note: ONE simple table, no more. As 
soon as you use more than one you´re back to old style coding, and that´s 
indeed something to be avoided.

Apply one table, put content divs in it and style these divs. I often make 
sites that way, even though I love CSS.

> > but really - why not use a tool that works?
>
>In the sense of the Web as a whole, tables *don't* work. Using tables as
>layout boxes misleads user-agents by telling them there's tabular data
>that really isn't there.

That´s too theoretical. No browser perceives tables as such.

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