What is the main difference between using data table vs .page block table tags ?

Hi,

apex:pageBlockTable

1) uses salesforce styling
2) No need to specify the headers
3) mandatory attribute “value”.

apex:dataTable

1) Need to specify the headers
2) we can specify custom style classes.
3) No mandatory attribute “value” unlike in pageblockTable

Hope this helps.

Hi

Apex:dataTable –
An HTML table that is defined by iterating over a set of data, displaying information about one item of data per row. The body of the < apex:dataTable > contains one or more column components that specify what information should be displayed for each item of data. The data set can include up to 1,000 items.->no need to write inside <apex:pageblock> or <apex:pageblocksection>
-> there is no required value
-> the data can be displayed using custom styles
-> we need to specify column headers explicitly

Apex:pageBlockTable – A list of data displayed as a table within either an < apex:pageBlock > or < apex:pageBlockSection > component, similar to a related list or list view in a standard Salesforce page. Like an < apex:dataTable >, an < apex:pageBlockTable > is defined by iterating over a set of data, displaying information about one item of data per row. The set of data can contain up to 1,000 items.The body of the < apex:pageBlockTable > contains one or more column components that specify what information should be displayed for each item of data, similar to a table. Unlike the < apex:dataTable > component, the default styling for < apex:pageBlockTable > matches standard Salesforce styles. Any additional styles specified with < apex:pageBlockTable > attributes are appended to the standard Salesforce styles. ->pageblocktable should be inside of <apex:pageblock> or <apex:pageblocksection>
-><apex:pageblocktable> has a required attribute called “value”
->it uses the standard salesforce page styles
->column headers will be displayed automatically

Thanks.