If you ever visited a page that showed nothing for a few seconds before everything suddenly appeared, that time was likely your browser making its first pass over the table structure behind the page. Theres simply less code to create a div than there is a table with a row and cell. Thanks for this. WebWhat are the advantages to using tables for layout? To suggest that the purpose of divs is to use block rendering contradicts the argument that tags should have semantic meaning and not display meaning. Heavy image use and Flash still seem to be the biggest factors in speed. The phone number and search can either be wrapped together in another div thats floated to the right or they could each be floated to the right independently. I think you hit the nail right on the head with this comment. Im surprised this debate continues, though admittedly Im continuing it right now after the question was raised on my small business forum. Ive linked to this article in a post as part of a project Im doing on web design styles. Each technique has its uses, advantages, and disadvantages, and no technique is designed to be used in isolation. No technique is designed to be used in isolation. By understanding what each layout method is designed for you'll be in a good position to understand which method is And Id suggest its still debatable that tables do equal columns better. biscotools.com. I typed along with all the code samples and it helped me a lot. I totally thought this debate was long dead, but hid a road block and was procrastinating so I thought I would google random stuff and found this. The problem most people have when learning to use divs is trying to force them to act like tables instead of allowing them to be what they are. Im sure there are a few out there already, but one more wont hurt. Its only when you dont specify the value that browsers might use different defaults. If your visitors are using IE you need to support IE and whether its the code or the browser that gets things wrong is irrelevant. Using css to layout a site is the most difficult part, but it does come together with a little practice. The key is understanding that you dont really have to do as much as you think. Just change the template file. Note: There are times when a row can have less or more cells than Its not going to bother me at all. It totally contradicts the argument that you can completely change the layout with only css, as if youd want to put one item before another. Which CSS framework is better Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap ? I make a change to the template file and boom, it changes on all pages. 2. To each their own in regards to tables. Its usually one or two things that may cause a problem and those problems are easily fixed. Again though you may notice in the post I dont use seo as a reason to use css. Lastly Id like to say that I dont think problem is with tables or divs, but what html has to offer, there isnt really anything specific for that type of design, tables werent meant to be used for layout but data instead, there hasnt been anything until now with css3 and css3-grid positioning perhaps http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-grid/. With a simple table structure the extra time might not be noticeable, but as the structure becomes more complex with more and more tables nested inside each other it is noticeable. The comics are great. What css function does that? Thanks Kevin. because both the table and the and elements have separate borders. Hopefully people will start accepting table-cell or something similar. CSS is very useful for styles regardless of how you do the layout. I did list the seo benefits under the heading Myths. Fixed positions make things more flexible? 2. You are a part of an ever growing majority. However please dont imply that css cant work for old sites or makes it more difficult to work on an existing table driven site. As people combat these myths the debate goes on and on combating misinformation while dancing around the central issue. But now not only is the solution more convoluted with containers i.e the complexity in code grows proportionally with the amount of columns compared to a simple table but we still dont really have equal length columns as its only the containers that are equal length and not the content/sidebar divs themselves. This is the same as $1,927 each week or $8,352 every month. The defaults only come into play if you dont specifically tell the browser what to use. I cant tell any discernable speed difference between a table layout and a CSS layouts load time. By There might be cross-browser issues while using CSS. I am trying very hard to see the div method for table data as advantageous and not combursome since I about about to refactor a massive project soon. So, its important to ensure faster speed. I had my old table based page done in 1/10th the time that Ive spent just trying to find some CSS code that accomplishes what my old header table didand when I started it I knew NOTHING about tables. Hopefully I can clear up a few things in this post and let you make your own decision. Same thing with the issue youre having with css. I hardly ever have to write more than a few lines of code specific to IE. How is that more maintainable? Advantages of OS Maps (1) Shows static long-term features. WebUsing CSS tableless design will provide your website visitors better usability and accessibility, faster page load times with greater, more elegant design possibilities. IE is a lot more standards compliant than youre giving it credit for. John Taylor This site uses css and works in IE for example as do many, many others. You can definitely hire someone to create a template for the site if you want. Wish me luck. Research Is there a way I can pay someone to turn this same homepage design into a total CSS design? If youre constantly having to fix old code though, I would recommend looking into the feasibility of redeveloping the site. Just because tables make one thing easier doesnt make them better than divs and css overall. As a web designer I spend the vast majority of my css time finding work around for IE and sometimes other browsers. Covering popular subjects like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Java, and I wont restate all the reasons why since I said them in the post already. The form on the bottom left of the homepage is an html feedback form through http://www.freedback.com. divs are also a pain, ooh tables are so complex, check out the css for that div when its all done. Thanks for the online references, Steven. Graphics are easier in CSS3, thus making it easy to make the site appealing. I need to write special code for IE? Unfortunately, by using tables I think increased load time and perhaps SEO unfriendliness of my code are stumbling blocks to my future success as a web designer. External style sheets have some tremendous advantages: You can define the style sheet in one document and have all the HTML files refer to the CSS file. The separation of content and style makes it easier to adjust pages and styles. If youre asking about the former then Id say go ahead and use a table when youre presenting data in columns and rows. Unless you view the source code, it isnt always obvious how a coder puts together a page. Cmon man! WebJavaScript advantages Fast speed: JavaScript is executed on the client side thats why it is very fast. Different browsers rendered the design differently. Ive been a designer for over 20 years and been using tables for layout for 13 years. With many sites (big, e commerce sites for example) having many different sections of text and images and other media throughout a page the code just grows and grows, taking browsers longer to load page content. Not so much about being able to have your changes update across the site, but on the single page itself. I think your comments re flexibility and structure have merit assuming the only tools available are html and css. One must know these disadvantages so that he or she is aware and takes care of them while I will use them to learn more about CSS. Two common formats are: Key-Value pairs fast read and write but not optimized for lookup. Divs require less code and are less dependent on each other than tables. I dont know about you, but generally speaking what my clients want most often is to update the content. Then there is hours of adjust here, adjust there, view, adjust . If you need a quick salary estimator, that comes out to be about $48.18 per hour. Newspapers have figured out this ideal layout a long time ago, and have thus named their writers columnists. The main advantage of CSS is that style is applied consistently across variety of sites. I promise Im not laughing. The algorithms used for ranking most often are content and inbound links. One of the debates that never seems to go away in the web development community is that of css vs tables and which is better to use for the layout of your site. WebHere are the top 5 reasons to use Word Styles: 1. should be collapsed into a single border: If you only want a border around the table, only specify the border property for A div is a more generic container that doesnt impose any structure on the content within. Both my table and div layouts use css equally. These bandwidth savings are substantial figures of insignificant tags that are indistinct from a mess of pages. Is it possible that there are errors in my tutorials? The argument is about how to structure a web page. According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for an AI designer in the US as of July 7, 2022, is $100,224. Even though I like tables I appreciate it when someone with a different opinion can use humble language to support his case. Advantages of Inline CSS: Inline takes precedence over all other styles. Now I barely have to test my layouts in multiple browsers because Ive learned how to keep them consistent across browsers. A div-based layout is: easier to maintain less code and less Theres nothing wrong with how you got here. Not all browsers (especially older versions) render tables the same. There are some new things on the way with css3 too that will make working with divs/css even easier and more flexible. Like others have pointed out, fixing display bugs related to just about any css based layout often takes entire release cycles, just to get ruined even more by some other dopy designer. As for formatting and style, you should use a clear and descriptive title that reflects the main topic and keywords of your paper. It doesnt lead to the need for more tags and it doesnt require workarounds. Table cells cooperate very well with each other, the way everyone expects things works. Nothing you said is true and most of it doesnt make any sense. True. Did you read the post? Feel free to contact me if you want me to develop the home page without tables. more flexible since one div is not dependent on the other divs on the page it allows for more freedom in your design, quicker to load blocks of code can be presented right away instead of the browser requiring an extra pass. The order and nesting of the divs matters. Im amazed people still argue in favor of table-based layout. Maybe Ill apply changes to my test pages as my home page changes and track the time involved. If you have a high volume site, it might be a good reason to consider using divs. And heres what Im referring to you saying in your post: The problem most people have when learning to use divs is trying to force them to act like tables instead of allowing them to be what they are.. Even though I think css is the better way, Ive seen some very poor and slow loading css driven sites and some pretty well coded and quick table driven sites. This is the same when using divs. With Googles latest algorithm update (Caffeine) emphasising page load times as a SE ranking factor it is now more important than ever from an SEO stand point to reduce the amount of code on a webpage. Really? Once a again, thank you for the info! I use it and love it. Im really struggling with whether to learn and use CSS for layout. When I first started using css for layout I couldnt always get things to look the same, but most of it was me. OK,this is total madness.I have 3 reasons,ready reasons,as to why tables are better than divs.And more,but not on the top of my head. Teams. The post right after shows a 3 column layout. Over the past few years Ive been slowly converting them to divs and CSS. Some of these advantages are: 1. The problems I run into are on updates: adding a few lines here, and changing the text there. I just said they were faster, which you proved. Thanks! Nice article. Not something you need for a two column layout of course. It might be a few days before I can get to it, but I will take a look. The fact that order matters even with divs invalidates a lot of the arguments table haters constantly throw out, but considering were trying to layout documents in the first place, it makes sense that order matters, otherwise the whole semantics argument would be totally out the window too! I think many people who spent the time learning how hold on to that knowledge instead of trying to learn the css way and in holding on to the known create arguments to defend their use of tables. It was easy to do, and it looks great in Opera, Firefox, and Chrome, but guess what?! What were you supposed to use? I avoid tables and table-cell in almost all layouts to avoid ridicule, but deep down I truly believe that anything else is convoluted and meant to create more jobs for web developers. (Yes, I like clean code too.) I agree your point of view. My question to you is Why frame this debate in terms I think making your structural elements independent is the better option. Divs can work independently from each other. I could create tables just as fast as anyone with css, if youre not using some noob program like dream weaver. If you originally decide all your h1 tags should be blue and later want them to be red its certainly easier to have your h1 style sitting in a single css file. 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