Most web designers were born and raised on tables for a simple reason, they seemed easier. I mean, why not just make a table, throw some images and text in it and call it a layout? It's easy to do with most any WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor like Dreamweaver or Frontpage, so why wouldn't you want to design with tables?



There's numerous reasons.

1. Tables Slow Down Your Site.

When a page is loaded, the browser loads everything inside of a table's cell before showing it to the user. This makes for some annoying loading times, especially for 56K modem users. Although most have high-speed internet these days and load times may not seem like such a big deal, there is a noticable difference between tables and div's.

2. Tables Make Messy Code

Why make your code more complicated than it needs to be? Tables end up generating an extroidinary amount of code lines, and increases the size of the HTML file. Also, when you need to change something specific in your code, hundreds of lines of code aren't fun to search through.

3. Tables Were Meant For Data Needing To Be Shown As A Table

Tables were created so people could display data, not display websites. Keep your use of tables down to when you have to show data, like a chart of earnings or a list of names.

4. Tables Limit Your Creativity

When using tables, you are limited to the boring, grid looking designs you see on many pages around the internet. Tables limit the way you can display your content, and hinder your designs. With CSS, anything can be placed anywhere. Divs can be floated on top of each other, or diagnally across from each other. The possibilities are endless.

So why would you want to use tables? Take the time to learn CSS/XHTML, and you'll save time and increase revenue in the long run.