Both elements will appear as block-level, meaning they do not display inline with anything else by default.

The main difference lies in how the elements are displayed. When using display: block;, the element will span 100% of the available space, whereas with display: table;, it will only be as wide as its contents.

It's worth noting that for descendants to work properly with properties like table-cell;, the parent must have a style of display: table;.

I recently encountered an issue where I needed the display: table; element to fill the container width, prompting me to research this topic further. I am curious if there is a noticeable distinction between display: inline; and display: inline-table;.

Check out this example on JSFiddle

Today, during my research, I came across a helpful section in the CSS spec regarding tables: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/tables.html#model

Of particular note,

The table generates a primary block box known as the table wrapper box that encloses the table itself and any caption boxes (arranged in document order). Within this structure, the table box is a block-level box housing the internal table boxes of the table.

From what I gather, this essentially signifies that the browser creates a hidden container block for elements styled with display: table!

There appears to be a notable distinction in how display:table behaves compared to display:block. While both clear the line, display:table does not expand to fill the entire width of the line like a display block would.

This means you can create a box that adjusts its size based on content, yet remains isolated within its own "line".

One key distinction I have identified between the properties display:block and display:table is that when both are used with position:fixed, top:0, left:0, right:0, bottom:0, and overflow:auto, if the content extends beyond the viewport, display:block will display a scrollbar while display:table will not.

One key advantage of utilizing display: table instead of display: block for a parent element is the ability to safely utilize display: inline-block for child elements, eliminating concerns about whitespace between the children.

Alternatively, one would need to eliminate the additional white-space by inserting HTML comments between closing and opening tags (such as with multiple <li> elements in a typical horizontal navigation), or placing everything in-line in the code without line breaks (which can be a tedious editing task).

Just recently, I stumbled upon another interesting example that showcases the distinction between using display: block and display: table

I decided to experiment with an email template from litmus:

<table class="row footer">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td class="wrapper">

        <table class="six columns">
          <tbody><tr>
            <td class="left-text-pad">

              <h5>Connect With Us:</h5>

              <table class="tiny-button facebook">
                <tbody><tr>
                  <td>
                    <a href="#">Facebook</a>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </tbody></table>

              <br>

              <table class="tiny-button twitter">
                <tbody><tr>
                  <td>
                    <a href="#">Twitter</a>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </tbody></table>

              <br>

              <table class="tiny-button google-plus">
                <tbody><tr>
                  <td>
                    <a href="#">Google +</a>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </tbody></table>

            </td>
            <td class="expander"></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody></table>

      </td>
      <td class="wrapper last">

        <table class="six columns">
          <tbody><tr>
            <td class="last right-text-pad">
              <h5>Contact Info:</h5>
              <p>Phone: 408.341.0600</p>
              <p>Email: <a href="mailto:<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2f475c4a434b40416f5b5d4e415b405d014c4042">[email protected]</a>"><a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c2aab1a7aea6adac82b6b0a3acb6adb0eca1adaf">[email protected]</a></a></p>
            </td>
            <td class="expander"></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody></table>

      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

When applying display: block !important; to the footer table, the result is as follows:

https://i.sstatic.net/qG73U.png

However, when changing it to display: table !important;, the appearance transforms to this:

https://i.sstatic.net/FRdWe.png

This snapshot was captured using a mail application on iOS 10.0.1.

In a recent experience with a wordpress theme containing complex CSS styles that caused conflicting effects in a specific class area, I encountered difficulties trying to center that section due to the CSS conflicts. After numerous attempts, I finally managed to center the area by changing its display property from inline-block to table, allowing me to apply centering rules such as text-align or margin: 0 auto successfully.

While my situation may not be statistically significant, I felt it was worth sharing this personal feedback for anyone facing similar challenges and stumbling upon this page through web searches :)

Essentially, the use of display:inline-block enables elements to be stacked vertically without the need for media queries. Changing the layout of elements set to display:table-cell necessitates the use of a media query.