<div> is widely used for the CSS box layout. The alternative is to devolve into nested tables. Sure, for simple text markup, <div> isn't used much, but its becoming invaluable for designers (and will become more so when/if IE ever fixes its CSS support).

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

But most of the time I see <div> tags used where a <p> or some other tag that actually has meaning would be better. The problem with (or the point of) <div> and <span>. tags is that they don't have any meaning. This means that you are putting information (content) in a 'block' that appears to have no meaning at all.

Though I can see the use of the construct in some cases, just applying <div> and <span> anywhere you want a layout change is bad practice.

For instance, this:

<p>
<span class="bold">Some header</span><br>
Some paragraph.
</p>
[download]

Is much better written:

<h3>Some header</h3>
<p>
Some paragraph.
</p>
[download]

- Don't laugh too hard at the above example, I've seen plenty of this in real sites made by supposedly professional companies.

Joost.

-- 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;$;=
";Jtunsitr pa;ngo;t1h\$e;r. )p.e(r;ls ;h;a;c.k^e;rs 
";$_=$;;do{$..=chop}while(chop);$_=$;;eval$.;
[download]

I suggest you go browse CSS Zen Garden.

Then you will understand the power of one <div> clapping :)

.02

cLive;-)

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Ok, but what about:

<h3><span>Some</span> header</h3>
<p>
Some paragraph.
</p>
[download]

with this CSS:

h3 span {
     color: red;
}
[download]

Some designs need that.

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He who asks will be a fool for five minutes, but he who doesn't ask will remain a fool for life.

Chady | http://chady.net/