Can Tables completely replace any CSS design?

Question

Can this be done? This site wants to..

http://giveupandusetables.com/

The site doesn't set a good example though..

Answer 1

It could be done, but CSS is so much more flexible, and it allows to separate content and presentation, so why would you?

The only possible scenario where this might be valid is to support some custom application that just needs to work with a very, very old browser.

Answer 2

Any is a very strong word: for all browsers, for all layouts, for all resolutions, for all operating systems, for all combinations of text, graphics, grids, numerical data, menus and forms, for all modes of data acquisition and manipulation, for all sizes of data, whether 1Kb or several huge images or embedded AV items.

Tables are very easy to do simply, but hard to scale and even harder to maintain.

So the short answer is No - there is so much more to CSS than just layout than this is just a transparent shill for an app.

Edit:

My original comment included an introduction which apparently another user disagreed with sufficiently to delete and emaciate my post.

The original questioner had, at the time of asking, only a "1" rep, this is not of itself an issue, we were all on 1 once. But when a user with no reputation on this site posts a link to a random site with an "I just stumbled upon this" introduction, that rings alarm bells.

It's a valid question: Does this website sell something? Should a link to a site I've never heard of posted by a user with "1" rep even merit a reasoned response?

Answer 3

I really really wish people would stop posting questions which talk about "tables" on the one hand versus "CSS" on the other. It's nonsense.

Even if we read between the lines and guess what you mean is "tables used for page layout, not tabular data" on the one hand and "CSS and DIVs used for page layout" on the other, it's still annoying.

Anyway: as a table with one cell could be created to reproduce any given DIV, then yes, probably a "table" layout could be produced to mimic any given "CSS" design. But I feel silly even answering the question.

Answer 4

Actually, there are a LOT of places that Tables can't replace CSS. In some layouts, it's impossible to use a table.

I'd love to see some of the CSSZenGarden designs replicated with a Table.

Besides, good programmers practice separation of concerns. As much as possible, separate your display from your data (markup).

You DO want to be a good programmer, right?

Answer 5

Something like Blood Lust: CSS Zen Garden would be hard to do. Changing from one design to another on the fly is some other thing that'll be hard.

Answer 6

http://www.shouldiusetablesforlayout.com/