Reply To: Some issues about relation between width/height and margin/padding/border

[spz1st]

It depends on how you view the element. You can view the element as an area where you display contents (text, image, etc.) in certain ways, such as with or without a margin, a border, and/or a padding. Then width and height are used to set the size of the area (element).

Had margins been included in width and height from the begin, a css type (say such as “float: 0 center;”, or use placement instead of float) could have been defined to achieve what current “margin: 0 auto” may achieve.

I like to add that the current way of rendering with respect to width/height and margin/padding/border is not only counterintuitive, but also makes it harder, if not impossible, to get a desired layout.