Sweating Your Code

The discussion of Tables vs. CSS for layouts seems to cycle through every 5 or 6 months or so.  I recently read a couple of popular posts on the topic, just trying to keep my head in the game of front end development and it made me think about why and more importantly how I use CSS for layouts.

So, why do I use CSS for layouts?

I’ll be honest.  I use CSS to layout websites because it’s the only way I learned how.  Truth be told, I never wanted to be a web developer, but when I started working on web related projects the “Standards Movement” was at it’s peak, and CSS was being touted as the future, so I thought why not start there.  It’s been nearly 4 years since, and while I’m not a guru of Eric Meyer status, I can confidently say that I can layout a site with CSS quicker than I could with tables.  In fact, I barely know how to use tables for layouts.

After doing 50+ websites with CSS as the layout language, I’ve learned the nuances, avoided the pitfalls and confidently mastered building websites with CSS.  Let’s just say that it works for me, and I thoroughly enjoy working with it.

Perhaps you are like me, but tables is your go to tool instead of CSS.  I say more power to you.  Use what you know, but don’t let laziness prevent you from learning new things.  (I include myself on that statement, as I could do more to get better at using tables as well.)  More importantly however, and the title of this post, I encourage you to sweat your code.  

Question if the way you are laying out a site is flexible for the future, efficient for browser interpretation, bullet-proof once you hand the reigns over to your client, optimized for search engines, easy to navigate for those who will be maintaining it; is it the best presentable end product for your client.  Find the best solution and use the tools that enable that solution

These are the details I sweat.