A developer recently asked me how I sell clients on the extra time and cost it takes to built web standard compliant sites using CSS versus tables. “I don’t have to,” I said. “CSS is faster.”

How could it not be? There’s less code. There’s less time spent slicing images in PhotoShop. And if you need to make a change to the layout, you just tweak the style sheet.

It’s not the first time I’ve been questioned about using CSS. It seems many developers are still hesistant to let go of tables. Each one states with confidence a reason for not making the switch. However, each argument is easily defeated.

I’ve built over 20 different sites using CSS design over the past two years. Before that, I spent eight years building with tables. Without a doubt, building sites with CSS is much more effecient.

It seems odd that I even need to say this, with the amount of information about CSS design. A List Apart has been writing about CSS for years, for example Jeffrey Zeldman’s “Fear of Style Sheets” from March 12, 1999. That’s nearly seven years ago!

But apparently, not everyone is getting the message.