Yes, and this is one of the areas where tables can get really nasty really quickly.
But the limitation that have been incorporated into CSS are just worse the "imperfect", they have screwed the ability to produce exact, reproducible results.
My point was that the idea that tables produce exact reproducible results is flawed. They just are more straightforward at the very basic level.
The ultimate solution is something beyond both present CSS and tables.
It's a nice thought, but god is not going to come out of the sky and simultaneously upgrade everybody to the something better.
People complain about all the flaws of CSS and the slow pace of progress, but seriously, considering this is the first truly cross-platform, cross-medium technology in the history of mankind, and looking at where we were in 5 year increments (2004, 1999, and 1994), progress is doing just fine.
Another thing... it's easy to pick apart CSS. But the domain of problems it has to address is HUGE. It's much more complicated than any one individual can fathom. No one is going to be able to turn around and create something that solves all the problems without being extraordinarily complex.
Yeah, but I can predict that each item on the row will be on the same line. Divs are harder than that.
CSS does have a learning curve, but it's not bad for what it actually provides. 90% of the hassle is just browser issues (which are getting better all the time). And FWIW, CSS supports table layout rules as well as float and absolute positioning, browser support just needs to catch up.
Uh, designers might not realize that programmers have to generate and modified HTML, not just hand-craft it.
I do really do appreciate that Div/CSS have many, many aspects that are a step forward.
But the limitation that have been incorporated into CSS are just worse the "imperfect", they have screwed the ability to produce exact, reproducible results.
The ultimate solution is something beyond both present CSS and tables.
"Try fixing the width of one column in a table and then predicting the width of each of the remaining columns." -- Yeah, but I can predict that each item on the row will be on the same line. Divs are harder than that.
Well, we can go on but I swear I've learned something and I was a div proponent till today.