Spaces and new lines with HTML and CSS

Question

Should I use <br /> and   in HTML to position elements, or should I just use CSS display:inline with padding/margin for positioning and all styling? what are pros and cons with both?

Answer 1

Use <br> to represent a linebreak inside a block element and use   to represent a non-breaking space inside an inline element. Nothing more. For the remnant just use CSS the smart way with help of under each the display, float, padding and/or margin properties.

Answer 2

<br /> has its uses, but if you find yourself using &nbsp a lot, I would consider finding better ways to align things.   is just ugly and clunky.

If it's tabular data, use a table. Your life will be much happier.

If it's not tabular data, use css, as BalusC suggests.