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Readers Respond: Great Reasons to Use CSS for Layout Instead of Tables

Responses: 24

By , About.com Guide

Awesome

All i got to say is css rocks . i mean its the future , the way to go. If u are still with Tables you better change
—Guest Victor

CSS is better for search engines

CSS is better than tables for search engines because they load faster and have proper header information.
—Guest Mergen from WEBGURU-CO.COM

Fast, clean, friendly, professional

Pages use significantly less code making them faster to load, faster to code, faster to edit. Clean, simple markup instead of the "tag soup" helps all get back to semantic usage (headers, paragraphs, lists); benefiting accessibility, SEO friendly by organizing a page hierarchal and linear bot inviting organic indexing structure. Web standard cross-browser/platform valid coding techniques promotes professionalism because of the need to constantly learn how to overcome the deficiencies/problems inherent in each new release of IE - which began with IE 5x and continues with IE8.
—Guest dbrimlow

CSS is great!

I am just getting started with CSS and totally love it! It provides WAY more content flexibility.
—Guest Fritz

Structure and rigid site designs.

Without CSS, layouts are rigid and unforgiving for any changes to the site layout.
—Guest Leon

CSS has stolen my heart

After a love affair with tables, CSS has stolen my heart because: - More design flexibility and control - Uniformity with out duplicity - Less code - Search engines prefer CSS
—crossfields

cleaner markup, easier change

the usefulness of separating content from styling cannot be underestimated. Development is faster, debugging is easier, and redesigning won't require starting from scratch. I suspect that many people still use tables for layout because of certain bugs that still exist in CSS positioning and floats. A thoughtful search on these issues and their resolutions will pay rich dividends
—Guest dean

Easier to maintain

It makes it easier to move blocks around when you want to tweak the layout or change the layout completely
—Guest Ian

Tables are no-no, Divs are go-go

I haven't used tables for layout for 6 or 7 years and I still see people using them! Get real, guys, tables are NOT for layout! It's like driving an auto in reverse everywhere, you wouldn't do it. The vehicle can do it, sure, but it's not acceptable, like tables for layout are not acceptable. Tables mess up text readers, they make life difficult for search engines, they add to page load, cause code bloat, etc. It's just laziness that people don't change. Divs and floats are very simple and the pages FLY! Make the change today!
—Guest FreddieB

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Great Reasons to Use CSS for Layout Instead of Tables

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