If you've done any work on complex Web layouts recently, you've probably been tempted to use a table for layout. Sure, it's a cardinal sin, but some things are just really easy with tables, and really hard with the current state of CSS. You end up using all sorts of CSS hacks to stabilize the layout, and it's debatable whether that's better than just using a table in the first place.

Here's one compromise: Dimitri Glazkov's TILT uses DOM scripting to inject table markup into your layout as the page is displayed, so you can keep the markup clean and let JavaScript handle the dirty work of using tables. Here's the example page with no <table> tags to be found. Very clever, and it has the requisite 4-letter acronym to get really popular.

Layouts are one area where there's no perfect solution: you can use table markup and throw semantics and accessibility out the window, use CSS with all sorts of hacks, or use clean, standard CSS and create a layout that works in everything but certain older browsers (and Internet Explorer). Now there's a fourth imperfect choice, and TILT might be the best option for many sites. It's still going to have trouble with older browsers and with JavaScript turned off, though.

[via 456 Berea Street]