Cellspacing vs cellpadding - Table attributes comparison

In HTML Tables (<table>) there are two attributes named, cellpadding and cellspacing. What is the different between cellpadding and cellspacing? Both these are capable of creating some empty space inside a table.

cellspacing : space between cells
cellpadding : space between the cell border and it's content

Look at the diagram to clarify this further. As the word "cellspacing" suggests, it denotes the spacing between cells; it is something easy to remember. "cellpadding" keyword can be considered in relation to the "padding" attribute in HTML/CSS; padding is used to denote the space between the content and border of box type elements.

Following is a simple code example to demonstrate the difference.

<table cellspacing="15px" cellpadding="20px" bgcolor="#00EE00" width="300px">
     <tr>
        <td bgcolor="#339966">
            <div style="background:#FFFFFF;">Cell 1 content</div>
        </td>
        <td bgcolor="#339966">
            <div style="background:#FFFFFF;">Cell 2</div>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

Cell 1

Cell 2

Check the difference. We have set the table background to light green color, so all the cellspacing is viewed in light green as it is the space between cells. The dark green sections are the spaces created with cellpadding; the space in white is available for the content in table cell.

Web Debugging

The topic of web debugging in Run BASIC came up today in the forums, and the topic started with some ambitious ideas from Bill W. who always has something interesting to say (here for example).

Run BASIC does need a debugging facility. I realize that most web programmers probably write to logs, and you can do that in RB without adding anything but we can make it a lot easier. Just for starters I was thinking of adding a logging object of some kind. A debug button would be added to the toolbar, and then you could specify either logging of all variable changes, or specify watches so that only certain variables would get logged, and a LOG statement could also be added that would only log if the program is executed in debug mode (instead of merely run).

Also, it would be no hard matter to include an inspector object which could be rendered into the page whereever it is convenient for the programmer. You could examine and change the value of variables, and perhaps even execute code dynamically on a running program in the web browser.

I'm eager for feedback on this!

Moving Up From Web Design

Sometimes you will see people posting something like, "I've been creating web sites for years using HTML and FrontPage but I'd like to know how I can take the next step. How do I become a web developer?" Usually the answer provided is something like, "You should learn PHP."

Is PHP the answer? The answer is of course, it depends.

If you're just looking for a job skill you can put on your resume, then PHP may be exactly what the doctor ordered. But, if you are building your own sites or are doing custom work for a client, or want build something for use at the office, or if you just want to learn because programming interests you then you really should consider Run BASIC. You can get something going faster with Run BASIC than with more traditional web tools because Run BASIC is designed to be easy. It doesn't try to fit into the mainstream notion of a web tool. There are just too many of those.

Take a look at the site at http://www.runbasic.com/ for more information.

Learn Web Programming

What does it mean to learn web programming (or web development) anyways? Most of the time it means that you need to struggle learning a programming language, a web server, and a bunch of frameworks. When I tell people that they can learn web programming with Run BASIC their automatic response (unless they're complete newbies) is, why not learn one of the popular web programming systems? Why learn Run BASIC?

I'll tell you why. Because you don't need a thick book with Run BASIC. Because you don't need to install a whole bunch of stuff. Because you can create a program and put it on the Internet in the blink of an eye with Run BASIC. Because you can think about programming instead of about trying to satisfy all the requirements of Apache+Perl, or PHP, or Ruby, or whatever.

http://www.runbasic.com/

Margin Vs Padding - CSS Properties

CSS provides two properties named margin and padding for keeping space between HTML Box type elements. But why do we have two properties for the same reason? Are they similar?
No. They have a main difference.
Padding - defines space between border and element content
Margin - defines space between border and other outer elements
(Look at the above diagram)

So when elements needs space between them, better to use margins. When text or an inner element needs space between the parent box and itself go for paddings.

Look at this example for visual clarification generated with this code.

<div style="margin:25px; background:#cccccc; border:#000000 2px dashed;">
    Text inside element
</div>
<div style="padding:25px; background:#cccccc; border:#000000 2px dashed;">
    Text inside element
</div>

Text inside element

Text inside element

In the first <div>, space is set between the border and outside elements but in the second one it is between the boder and text.

Hope this will help.