JavaScript® Bible, Sixth Edition

Chapter 38. Table and List Objects

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Modifying table cell content

• Adding and deleting table rows

• table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, col, colgroup, th, tr, and td element objects

• ol, ul, li, and dl list element objects

Tables are incredibly popular HTML constructions. When you consider that a lot of server applications search SQL databases and display data gathered from SQL tables, it's not unusual to find the table concept carried over from data storage to data display. Spreadsheet programs certainly put the notion of tabular display into the minds of most computer users.

One of the truly beneficial properties of tables in HTML is that they pack a lot of page organization and alignment punch in just a few tags and attributes. Even if you're not a graphics designer or a dedicated HTML jockey, you can get rows and columns of text and images to line up perfectly on the page. This behavior also lures many page designers to sculpt elaborately detailed pages out of what appear to be positioned elements. Earlier browsers didn't offer positioning facilities, so borderless tables were torqued into performing all kinds of placement tricks with the help of precisely sized, transparent images creating the illusion of white space between carefully placed elements.

Using tables to specify design and page layout is rapidly giving way to CSS techniques that achieve a similar look with less code. This trend is driven by web standards goals of using HTML markup to denote context rather than ...