How can I explain to a programmer that CSS positioning has many benefits over table based layouts?

Posted by Pat on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Pat
Published on 2010-04-28T20:15:05Z Indexed on 2010/04/28 20:17 UTC
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Filed under:

tables

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css-positioning

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seo

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accessibility

I have a friend who wishes to work as a freelance web developer, but insists that tables are the way forwards for layouts.

Several points he maintains in favour of tables:

1> This is what was taught at the beginning of 10 years of programming & computer science degrees.

2> Large companies use tables to achieve 'technical' things.

3> It saves time

I have coded him some examples of CSS exactly matching table based layouts, and provided many links to articles explaining SEO and accessibility benefits.

From the perspective of a client, I have been explaining to him that I wouldn't hire someone using outdated methods as their main strategy for layout. As he is my friend and I wish him every success, I believe it is important for him to gain the best start when pitching for work.

The question again: How can I explain to a programmer that CSS positioning has many benefits over table based layouts?

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