16. Tables

Tables have a storied history on the Web. While originally conceived just to hold tabular data, they were quickly appropriated for a much bigger task: serving as the foundation for complicated layouts, with multiple columns, sidebars and many other features that were simply impossible before the advent of CSS. The problem is that layouts with tables tend to be so complex that they are difficult to set up and cumbersome to update.

Figure 16.1. Tables let you create fancy professional-looking layouts that will wow your visitors and be compatible with most older browsers.

Now that CSS is here and well supported, ...

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