

HTML tables are not evil. Using them is not a sin. They do not suck. - whyme
http://arclanguage.org/item?id=13521

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tristanperry
I felt like that when learning XHTML+CSS in the HTML 4 days (when the most
common question seemed to be 'Best layout method: iframes or tables?!'), and
with IE 5.5 still being used a bit it was a big annoyance to switch over to
XHTML and CSS.

But honestly, I now couldn't go back. I seldom run into any cross browser
issues (apart from the odd IE 6 and 7 issue, which conditional comments takes
care of in a minute or two), and I now couldn't imagine using tables for a
layout.

But you're right that using HTML tables isn't evil. They're designed to
display tabulated data and using them for this purpose is definitely a good
plan ;-)

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CoreyLoose
Not going to say I use them all the time but I sure do love me a good table.
Just today I had to debug some code that was a css-simulated-table that went
all wonky with its floats and clears.

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lhorie
Sure, until you need to print the page. Or show it on a iPad.

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robwgibbons
Sure, tables are not inherently evil. But like every other HTML element, they
have their correct and incorrect uses. The reason you hear so much crap about
them is because of very widespread misuse.

When used correctly (read: where you need to display tabulated data) tables
are perfect. In some cases, they may even be warranted in layout design.
However, this is not common. Using DIVs and CSS makes for much cleaner code
where a table is not explicitly needed.

Hacker News actually uses tables. Not sure why, but maybe there's a good
reason.

