html - On a two-column page, how can I grow the left div to the same height of the right div using CSS or Javascript?

Question

I'm trying to make a two-column page using a div-based layout (no tables please!). Problem is, I can't grow the left div to match the height of the right one. My right div typically has a lot of content.

Here's a paired down example of my template to illustrate the problem.

<div style="float:left; width: 150px; border: 1px solid;">
  <ul>
    <li>nav1</li>
    <li>nav2</li>
    <li>nav3</li>
    <li>nav4</li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div style="float:left; width: 250px">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna
....
</div>

Answer 1

Your simplest answer lies in the next version of css (3), which currently no browser supports.

For now you are relegated to calculating heights in javascript and setting them on the left side.

If the navigation is so important to be positioned in such a way, run it along the top.

you could also do a visual trick by moving the borders to the container and the bigger inner, and make it appear to be the same size.

this makes it look the same, but it isn't.

<div style="border-left:solid 1px black;border-bottom:solid 1px black;">
  <div style="float:left; width: 150px; border-top: 1px solid;">
    <ul>
     <li>nav1</li>
     <li>nav2</li>
     <li>nav3</li>
     <li>nav4</li>
    </ul>
 </div>
 <div style="float:left; width: 250px; border:solid 1px black;border-bottom:0;">
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit,
  sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit,
  ...
 </div>
 <div style="clear:both;" ></div>
</div>