Sent by Al Sparber on 10 April 2002 11:11
Forms manage data. Data is tabular by nature, which is why databases are
comprised of "tables". To criticize or debate the advantages of using
tables to lay out forms is zealotry at its worst and is what tends to
alienate the otherwise brilliant people who evangelize standards and CSS
from "real-world web designers". This is one of the three most silly
debates I've seen in quite some time. But it was entertaining :-).
I do love the freedom and the novelty of using CSS to design layouts...
but I also know that like anything else it must be used prudently and
wisely and, most important, in the context of a site's market. Shall we
assemble a task force to ban tables in MS Word and Quark now?
How about not scaring the hell out of CSS newcomers by burning their
tables because you make fantastic but experimental sites not meant for
viewing by the same people who those new designers must cater to if they
are to cash the checks given them by clients who need to appeal to
people who may not be using the latest browser? How about a little
tolerance and prudence. Pragmatism even! Maybe a little single-cell
table to frame a form so that paragraphs can be used in a way that won't
crash Netscape 4? They can certainly use all sorts of cool CSS within
that wee little table and last I checked, it probably wouldn't increase
the bandwidth and might actually decrease the bandwith as fewer CSS
rules might be possible :-) Let's see, we'd add this much code:
<table>
<tr>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
Anyone want to add that up? Less than your average CSS rule, no?
If the future of the internet is so dependant on saving bandwidth... I'm
not sure the internet has much of a future. Mamma don't take my
Kodachrome away :-).
Al Sparber- PVII
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