At 06:15 PM 9/6/2005, Kenny Graham wrote:
> The most obvious one I can think
> of is the need for two background images.
Sometimes this is the case, but often times it can be avoided with a
little creativity, such as using a background image on the <ul>, and
classing the first and last <li> to give them more height and
different background images (good for vertical nav bars). But
still, I guess sometimes it's necessary if the design isn't negotiable.
Kenny,
Of course sloppy markup abounds -- as Theodore Sturgeon was known to
remark, 90% of everything is crap -- a principal that applies fairly
equally to every field of human endeavor -- but don't be too quick to
assume that apparently extraneous divs are truly unnecessary until
you've carefully dissected the HTML-CSS
interrelationships. Sometimes wrapping a div around a structure
seems to be required to stabilize an effect cross-browser, to contain
floats, to maintain a columnar structure, etc. Often the necessity
of wrapping divs won't be obvious until you bring the markup and
stylesheet onto your own computer and start deleting tags in an
effort to simplify things -- then you'll find in some cases exactly
what the original developer discovered, that containers are sometimes
necessary to keep things together and to keep everything behaving
similarly from one browser to another.
Many of us strive constantly to produce the layout effects we want
without adding extra divs, and discoveries of how to truly do without
them in this circumstance or that are always greeted with great
huzzahs and confetti in the streets. I look forward to your own
contributions to the field.
Regards,
Paul
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