Should Tables be avoided in HTML at any cost?

Question

It is advisable to use tables in HTML pages (now that we have CSS)?

What are the applications of tables? What features/abilities does tables have that are not in CSS?

Answer 1

If only the CSS equivalent was as expedient in setting up a "table-like" layout, then I would love to use CSS. I find the time that it takes to mimic the things that others have listed here (equal heights on cells, auto-growing rows, etc.) is simply not worth the effort. I don't get a return on my investment as opposed to quickly throwing together a table in most cases.

All browsers can agree on exactly how a table should be laid out. Bam. Done.

Here's how my CSS follies usually go: Try setting up a table-like layout in CSS. Spend 20 minutes or more getting everything just so in Mozilla and then open it up in IE. Spend another 30 minutes tweaking between those two browsers. Pretend like there are only two browsers in the world because I actually need to get some work done.

I believe in the promise of CSS: Separation of concerns. The problem is that for those who need to be productive, CSS is not ready for prime time. Or perhaps it's the rendering engines of the browsers - whichever.