Laying Out a MasterPage

[Jay1b]

I've created a working MasterPage (there are a few niggles that need ironing out, but largely it works perfectly). This is based around a 3x3 table, with the middle and middle-right rows merged for the content provider.

 

I've since been informed that i should be using div's instead of tables to layout the screen. Could someone please tell me whether this is right? If so, are there any good places or example on how to do this?

 

Thanks

[PlausiblyDamp]

As this is a pretty big topic (and one that can lead to disagreements) you might find the following links useful.

 

http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/everything.html

https://www.decloak.com/Dev/CSSTables/CSS_Tables_01.aspx

[Jay1b]

Thanks, i've read the decloak site before. I posted here after searching the web, as i couldnt find one decent unbiased site :)

 

I'd think that div's would be the way to go, but on the demonstration videos where i first learned about MasterPages, he (Scott somebody or other) used tables.... But then that's obviously aimed at a low level programmer.

 

Which method would you be inclined to use?

[fizzled]

Differences

 

From what I've read, the main reasons for using DIV layouts are:

 

• DIVs usually require less code
  
• DIV layouts usually display faster
  

 

Using a DIV layout can require less code depending on how much and what type of CSS you are using. Less code will also mean smaller file sizes. A DIV layout will also usually display faster because it should display as it is received from the server, whereas tables aren't displayed until the entire table is received. Of course, for smaller tables this may not make a difference.

 

For newer Web developers, tables can be easier to implement, because they will require less, if any, CSS styling to control the layout, whereas DIV layouts require CSS to really be useful.