title: Why not use tables for layout in HTML?
body: <p>It seems to be the <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/82391/should-tables-be-avoided-in-html-at-any-cost#82402">general opinion</a> that tables should not be used for layout in HTML. </p>
  
  <p>Why?</p>
  
  <p>I have never (or rarely to be honest) seen good arguments for this. The usual answers are:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>It's good to <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/82391/should-tables-be-avoided-in-html-at-any-cost#82422">separate content from layout</a><br>But this is a fallacious argument; <a href="http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#cliche" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cliche Thinking</a>. I guess it's true that using the table element for layout has little to do with tabular data. So what? Does my boss care? Do my users care?<br><br>Perhaps me or my fellow developers who have to maintain a web page care... Is a table less maintainable? I think using a table is <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/82391/should-tables-be-avoided-in-html-at-any-cost#82571">easier</a> than using divs and CSS.<br><br>By the way... why is using a div or a span good separation of content from layout and a table not? Getting a good layout with only divs often requires a lot of nested divs.</p></li>
  <li><p>Readability of the code<br>I think it's the other way around. Most people understand HTML, few understand CSS.</p></li>
  <li><p>It's better for SEO not to use tables<br>Why? Can anybody show some evidence that it is? Or a statement from Google that tables are discouraged from an SEO perspective?</p></li>
  <li><p>Tables are slower.<br>An extra tbody element has to be inserted. This is peanuts for modern web browsers. Show me some benchmarks where the use of a table significantly slows down a page.</p></li>
  <li><p>A layout overhaul is easier without tables, see <a href="http://csszengarden.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">css Zen Garden</a>.<br>Most web sites that need an upgrade need new content (HTML) as well. Scenarios where a new version of a web site only needs a new CSS file are not very likely. Zen Garden is a nice web site, but a bit theoretical. Not to mention its <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/83073/div-vs-table#83639">misuse</a> of CSS.</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I am really interested in good arguments to use divs + CSS instead of tables.</p>