CSS vs Tables?

[SirMoby]

All modern browsers display tables the same. That is not true for CSS which often requires hacks and often similar amounts of code as tables.

I have had CSS code written by experts that still needed additional tweaks and adjustments where if they used tables it would be the same no matter what.

As far as I'm concerned CSS is still new and it will be years before things shake out clean. That being said, I do try to not use tables for page layouts however I still use tables when laying out information in a table format as it's just easier.

I start all of my pages inside a <div> with the width that I want but I'll still use tables inside that from time to time.

[jayeff]

Originally Posted by SirMoby

All modern browsers display tables the same.

Wrong. Although they should not, all browsers include display styling defaults which result in the appearance and/or placement of various page elements - including tables - being handled in a variety of ways. The differences are often small and acceptable, but these defaults are almost always the reason for the "my page looks great in such-and-such a browser, but in..."

Which is why, if you do use CSS, it is a good idea to begin your stylesheet with settings to "zero off" these differences.