Table (information)

A table is an arrangement of information or data, typically in rows and columns, or possibly in a more complex structure.

Tables appear in print media, handwritten notes, computer software, architectural ornamentation, traffic signs, and many other places.

In books and technical articles, tables are typically presented apart from the main text in numbered and captioned floating blocks.

Certain considerations follow from this simplified description: The elements of a table may be grouped, segmented, or arranged in many different ways, and even nested recursively.

This structure is typically visually presented with an appropriate number of white spaces in front of each stub's label.

[9] They can condense large amount of information to a limited space and therefore they are popular in scientific literature in many fields of study.

As a communication tool, a table allows a form of generalization of information from an unlimited number of different social or scientific contexts.

[11][13] At a programming level, software may be implemented using constructs generally represented or understood as tabular, whether to store data (perhaps to memoize earlier results), for example, in arrays or hash tables, or control tables determining the flow of program execution in response to various events or inputs.

An example table rendered in a web browser using HTML
An example of a table containing rows with summary information. The summary information consists of subtotals that are combined from previous rows within the same column.
Adrien Auzout 's "A TABLE of the Apertures of Object-Glasses" from a 1665 article in Philosophical Transactions
NFPA 704 four-colored diamond Health 3: Short exposure could cause serious temporary or residual injury. E.g. chlorine gas Flammability 2: Must be moderately heated or exposed to relatively high ambient temperature before ignition can occur. Flash point between 38 and 93 °C (100 and 200 °F). E.g. diesel fuel Instability 1: Normally stable, but can become unstable at elevated temperatures and pressures. E.g. calcium Special hazards (white): no code