css vs tables

[ice78991]

Just starting a new site and am considering which way to go on this issue. css seems to give good control, but I have read that tables offer greater compatibility with older browsers. Also, when it comes to vertical centering, the css code is far more complex than with tables, and is also less reliable. I had a look at a simple google search page and noticed tables are used quite extensively there. Perhaps the way to go is a table based layout and then use css to manage the finer points of the design?

 

[ESquared]

kaht,

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I really appreciate it.

I absolutely did not mean to knock your trade. It is precisely that I wish to acquire the skills of your trade that I am taking the time to "do it right." If I just cared about getting the job done and no more, I'd have had my project finished weeks ago. But the way I saw it was, why not use the opportunity to become a real web developer in addition to the other kinds of developer I already am? Then of course the frustration inherent in doing so cropped up.

To be clear, it's absolutely not a waste of time to learn my way around the track. But the sheer quantity and nature of the obstacles are a real waste of time, in comparison to an ideal world none of us live in where IE is more standards-compliant.

monksnake,

Thanks for playing my silly game. I think I was probably being a bit of an @$$. All I meant was, ow ow ow, and I probably didn't need to waste your or anyone else's time in saying it. Everyone who's really a web developer already knows this.

The plain fact of the matter is: IE has bugs, and to become a true web developer one has to learn one's way around them. Period.

Anyone who wishes to take exception to that can do it without my participation in arguing about it.