

Ask HN: Why is HN laid out with tables? - ruswick


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dreadsword
Because tables can be a fast, simple, effective, compatible, and lightweight
way to style a page if you don't need fancy CSS behaviour or ivory tower
purity of separation between content & style.

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k3liutZu
Or because you don't know CSS...

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nikatwork
Features such as vertically centering elements of unknown height, and mixing
absolute with relative positioning are difficult and clunky to implement in
CSS in a backwards-compatible manner (IE7 and IE6). I'm talking about: <td
width="*" valign="middle">.

Tongue in cheek: <http://giveupandusetables.com/>

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motherwell
Have you looked at the design?

This site is a classic example of not over doing anything. It is about
conversation and knowledge, and NOTHING else. An extra minute on table-less
design would be a waste.

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yuhong
Funny thing that they design with tables but use getElementById for the JS
when document.images would have been enough.

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illumen
I think because pg knows tables.

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kevinconroy
Minimum viable product = tables.

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debacle
That's a huge oversight. The technical debt accrued by starting out with a
table-based design isn't worth the half hour of coding it saves you.

