Fixing Sub-Pixel rounding issue in a CSS Fluid Grid

Question

I'm trying to create a fluid CSS grid, it works in Firefox and IE8+ but NOT in Safari/Chrome/Opera where the sub-pixel rounding issue becomes visible:

http://jsfiddle.net/bJKQ6/2/

.column {
  float: left;
  width: 25%;
}

The main container has a width of 100%, and if you change the browser size in Safari/Chrome/Opera you can see how the rounded widths are inconsistent.

After extensive reads about the problem I understood that "there is no right or wrong solution" for the sub-pixel rounding, but the Firefox way seems the best compromise to me. (For example, if I set 4 divs at a width of 25% I expect the covered area to be 100%.)

I would like to know if there is a CSS only solution that I missed, or alternatively some JavaScript to solve the problem.

Thanks!

UPDATE: As of May 2014, Chrome 33 and Safari 7 seem to have picked up the "Firefox way".

Answer 1

Stubbornella's OOCSS framework (links below) grids module deals with this by giving the last column the following overrides:

float:    none;
overflow: hidden;
width:    auto;

This allows it to occupy whatever width remains within the container.

A bit of browser-forking (IE, ptzsch…) is necessary to get the same behaviour: https://github.com/stubbornella/oocss/blob/master/core/grid/grids.css https://github.com/stubbornella/oocss/wiki/grids

Answer 2

It sucks there isn't a nice option for this that will round pixels up and down for each browser, but in lieu of that, I usually do:

.nested:last-child {
    float: right;
}
.nested:first-child {
    float: left;
}

This will float the last child to the right so the px unalignment isn't obvious, but if it's the only element (say a div that is 33% width), then it will continue to float left.