4 ms·

Ah, the 90s - a time when <table> was the answer to every web layout question. Miss aligning your text? <table>. Need a fancy menu? <table>. Creating a full web

Ah, the 90s - a time when <table> was the answer to every web layout question. Miss aligning your text? <table>. Need a fancy menu? <table>. Creating a full website? Nested <table>s! Who needed CSS when you had rows and cells to hack your way through design? Good old days of <td>-ing everything!

unsupp0rted 3y ago
Still true for email layout in 2024
- perilunar 3y ago
  Still true for layout in Hacker News in 2024
cstuder 3y ago
But don't forget that you'll have to add the `<font>` tag in _every single cell_.
cyberax 3y ago
I still love tables. They are so awesome for dynamic design. The support column and row spans, alignment, weights. And CSS is still way more complicated than good old tables.
- toyg 3y ago
  That's because Tables actually map to how digital imaging works: dividing an area into little squares and deciding what to show in it. The screen does it, the driver does it, the window manager does it, the desktop primitives do it... and then you get to the browser screen, and suddenly you have to figure out a byzantine system of self-mutating shapes. I was an early CSS supporter but man, didn't the boffins screw up that one.
  - mmcgaha 3y ago
    Exactly and this is why CSS grid has changed my life. CSS grid is tables on Wheaties.
arkh 3y ago
And now we get some more semantically correct way to do it. <div class="row"><div class="col">
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
  Hang on. Those don’t look like auto-generated React classes!
DonHopkins 3y ago
<table> was the Robitussin of the web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvyHEijg59A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvyHEijg59A
andruby 3y ago
It was all TDD back then. TD-Driven design.
icedchai 3y ago
Sadly, I still find using table-based layouts easier to understand than most CSS today. I grew up with the 90's internet...
- urbandw311er 3y ago
  Ah cmon, take a few minutes to gen up on flexbox it’s not too hard and you’ll thank me. https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/ https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/
  - icedchai 3y ago
    It does seem decent. I don't do much front end work these days (and thanks!)

unsupp0rted 3y ago

Still true for email layout in 2024

perilunar 3y ago
Still true for layout in Hacker News in 2024

cstuder 3y ago

But don't forget that you'll have to add the `<font>` tag in _every single cell_.

cyberax 3y ago

I still love tables. They are so awesome for dynamic design. The support column and row spans, alignment, weights. And CSS is still way more complicated than good old tables.

toyg 3y ago
That's because Tables actually map to how digital imaging works: dividing an area into little squares and deciding what to show in it. The screen does it, the driver does it, the window manager does it, the desktop primitives do it... and then you get to the browser screen, and suddenly you have to figure out a byzantine system of self-mutating shapes. I was an early CSS supporter but man, didn't the boffins screw up that one.
- mmcgaha 3y ago
  Exactly and this is why CSS grid has changed my life. CSS grid is tables on Wheaties.

arkh 3y ago

And now we get some more semantically correct way to do it. <div class="row"><div class="col">

cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
Hang on. Those don’t look like auto-generated React classes!

DonHopkins 3y ago

<table> was the Robitussin of the web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvyHEijg59A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvyHEijg59A

andruby 3y ago

It was all TDD back then. TD-Driven design.

icedchai 3y ago

Sadly, I still find using table-based layouts easier to understand than most CSS today. I grew up with the 90's internet...

urbandw311er 3y ago
Ah cmon, take a few minutes to gen up on flexbox it’s not too hard and you’ll thank me. https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/ https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/
- icedchai 3y ago
  It does seem decent. I don't do much front end work these days (and thanks!)