DIV or Table for showing database data

Question

I know it's told to use table for tabular data, but I see in many websites and CMS that they use div for showing database content, for example in admin area for editing them, shouldn't they use table for showing these data? What's the best way?

Answer 1

Use a table, since it's tabular data. Unordered, ordered, or dictionary lists should be used when you want to present data in a non-tabular fashion, like the list of questions on the front page of SO.

Answer 2

Typically you would use DIVs for page layout and TABLEs to display tabular data. In your question you ask about the admin areas for a CMS. If in the admin area they are displaying a grid that represents one or more tables in a database then yes it would probably be best displayed as a table.

However the distinction should be made based on how you are actually presenting the data. Just because the data started out as tabular data (in a database table) doesn't mean that it is inherintly tabular data. If you intend to display it in some other form then DIVs might be the better choice.

Answer 3

It completely depends on what type of data we are talking about. Unless you can give an example of the data, then you won't get a very good answer.

Edit: Per your comment, yes, use a table. If you're showing lists of things from a database then you should use a LIST. There is no golden rule -- the format you use should reflect the data coming from the database.

Answer 4

Table because it is data.

Answer 5

I will answer your question with another question :

Do you want your data to remain presentable if CSS are not available ?

Yes, definitively go for Tables

No, it's up to you, whichever makes you all warm and fuzzy inside ;-)

Answer 6

The best markup to use to present a piece of data is always that which is most semantically appropriate. This, of course, raises the question of exactly what is semantically appropriate. This is not a trivial question, and it depends entirely on the sort of data that you're presenting. If your data is tabular in nature, then you should definitely put it in a table. Most data is not tabular in nature, so it shouldn't go in a table.

The reason that using tables is discouraged is because they have historically been misused for non-semantic presentational purposes. Often, authors would place data that wasn't even remotely tabular in nature inside a table tag solely to get it to appear a certain way. This is poor practice, and one should instead create the desired appearance using CSS. This criticism, however, applies not to the use of tables in general, but merely to the use of tables for inappropriate content.

To address a couple of other things:

• Don't worry about browsers without CSS. This isn't a problem in this day and age, unless you're using non-graphical browsers.
• Search engines prefer semantic content. If tables are the proper semantics, then the search engines will prefer them.

Answer 7

Div is more widely supported by browsers, while table has some quirks and exceptions that make it cumbersome. a div is more general purpose, you can do a lot with it, not just tables. take a close look at:

http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_DIV.asp

Answer 8

search engines more like div