Using javascript to layout a page as opposed to CSS

Question

HI Team;

I would like to ask: is there any problem with using jquery layout plugin (there are several) to layout a page as opposed to using CSS and fixing browser compatibility issues myself?

Kind regards.

Josh

Answer 1

The most obvious problem is that any visitor to the page using a browser with JavaScript turned off will not get the layout. If you're willing to turn away from those people, that may not be a blocking factor for you.

There can also be performance issues, delays on resizing the browser window, that sort of thing.

I'm not saying don't do it; if it's appropriate for your target audience. But look to see if you can avoid it or at least gracefully degrade if JavaScript isn't enabled. (Turn off JavaScript and come here to SO, for instance; still very usable in a read-only way.)

If doing this, continue to be sure to mark up your content in the main page (rather than only adding it dynamically) and use the most semantic markup you can, to improve your search-ability.

Answer 2

Another problem is that the page has to fully load and download the javascript, then get rendered. This will slow down the page significantly.

Answer 3

When your layout doesn't behave for whatever reason (and that will happen), will you be able to understand the code behind the JQuery plugin to fix it?

Invest in yourself and learn CSS properly, it's not hard, it doesn't take long and it will equip you for the future, don't just rely on plugins. Now I'm not saying never use a plug-in, but this to me seems inappropriate use