Tables

Tables

• A table uses the tabular environment. You first describe the columns:

\begin{tabular}{l c r}
  left & centre & right \\
\end{tabular}

• {l c r} means three columns: left-aligned, centred, right-aligned.

Rows and cells

• Inside, & jumps to the next column and \\ starts a new row:

\begin{tabular}{l l}
  Apple & 5 \\
  Banana & 3 \\
\end{tabular}

• The number of cells in each row must match the number of columns you declared.

Lines (optional)

• Add | between column letters for vertical lines, and \hline for horizontal ones:

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}
  \hline
  Apple & 5 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}

• For a cleaner look, professionals use the booktabs package instead of many lines.

Common mistakes

• tabular needs a column spec like {lcr}; separate cells with & and end rows with \\.
• The number of & per row must fit the column spec.