Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderAs someone who just implemented automatic table layout and is now intimately familiar with the details of how it works, I'd like to suggest that the problem with table-based layout is that it's excessively complex and largely undocumented and unspecified. The results will differ between browsers. Even the parts that have draft specs (which don't include, for example, percentage heights) are much more complex than CSS blocks and inlines: look at sections 4.1 through 4.4 of [1] for example. [1]…
It is fascinating how a perfectly sensible rule-of-thumb "you shouldn't use html tables for something which is not semantically a table" gradually morphed into various superstitions like "you shouldn't use html tables" or "you shouldn't use tables for layout" or even "you shouldn't use tables". I don't think people have a hard time understanding that you shouldn't use the <blockquote>-element for something which is not a quote. But html tables had a more troubled history because for a long time…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 228
- Total comments
- 124
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-10-27 | The Anti-hero of CSS Layout – “display:table”First breakout · Best thread | p0larboy | 130 | 67 |
| 2017-02-11 | The Anti-Hero of CSS Layout – “display:table” (2014)Latest 20+ point return | Tomte | 93 | 57 |
| 2021-02-07 | The Anti-hero of CSS Layout – “display:table” (2014) | Tomte | 1 | 0 |
| 2021-09-01 | The Anti-hero of CSS Layout – “display:table” (2014) | Tomte | 1 | 0 |
| 2022-05-10 | The Anti-hero of CSS Layout – “display:table” (2014) | Tomte | 1 | 0 |
| 2025-03-18 | The Anti-hero of CSS Layout – "display:table" (2014) | Tomte | 2 | 0 |