Master Pages

I took ASP.Net 5 years ago and apparently forgot a lot. lol I created a new website with VB.Net as the language. I created a master page. My question is two parts. First, what is the "DIV" box at the top, do I need it? Second, I know I can create a table and put the content placeholder in one of the cells but can what I really want is just a row at the top for my logo, banner ad and logon controls, a row under that for navigational controls, a column on the left for page links and other content links and a cell to the right to put my content placeholder but can I resize the placeholder to take up the rest of the page or am I stuck with it resizing based on the content?

This is a real newbie question. Plus can anyone recommend a good book other thanthe ASP.Net 2.0?

I suggest since contentplaceholder is just a container, to resize the elements inside.
Now...No you don't need the div and i don't know what div box you are referring to,but if you don't use div then u must use tables to control your elements(of course you can have both).
As for the design, you start css and if something is wrong let us know.

In general, it is bad practice to use tables. Div's are much better, but you need to understand how to use them. People usually use tables when they dont understand Div's. A quick google on Div will give lots of examples if your stuck

Generally nowadays tables are used in limited amounts and for correct horizontal and vertical sizing-matching,especially for compatibility with old browsers.It's very bad practice to use tables if you start doing the table inside table scenario.I suggest to primary use div's and only use tables if you have extreme sizing situations.

Shodan, the div is placed by default on a page in visual studio. You dont need it so feel free to remove it. Tables generally should only be used to display tabular data, and the divs + CSS to control layout.