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From: Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Coding style for small if statements
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:10:59 -0800
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ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) writes:

[...]

> There are several different ways to format texts with braces
> and parentheses.  [...]
>
> from Kernighan's B tutorial from 1972:
>
>       if(---)
>         { -----
>           ----- }
>        else if(---)
>         { -----
>           ----- }
>        else if(----)
>         { -----
>           ----- }

This choice of example is misleading.  The code outline shown is
given in the tutorial as part of explaining how 'else if' can be
used to select one choice from among several alternatives, not as
an example of layout style.  All other code shown in the tutorial
uses K&R bracing style, where the braces go on the same lines as
the 'if's or 'else's, except of course for the last where it goes
on a line by itself.  As far as compactness (which was mentioned
in the ...  text) goes, writing this example using K&R style

    if(---){
        -----
        -----
    } else if(---){
        -----
        -----
    } else if(----){
        -----
        -----
    }

takes just one additional line.  Also the closing braces line up
vertically with the statements that start the nested block.
There is quantitative evidence that lining up group closings (ie,
the close braces in C) in this way gives lower error rates than
other choices of positioning group closings.  In particular, a
closing brace style like this 

    {
      -----
      -----
    }

gives better results, in terms of observed error rates, than a
Lisp closing brace style, like this

    {
      -----
      ----- }

(I have deliberately left off a leading if() or while(), etc, to
avoid going off an a tangent about where open braces should go.)

The results regarding error rates for different closing positions
were already known well over forty years ago, so there is no excuse
for making any other choice going forward.