I like to use a compact form with braces in control statements on the same line, but also don't like the shorthand without braces. However, I switch for namespace and class declarations, as well as class member functions. if ( a > b ) { print "b is less than or equal to a" print "it means a is greater than b" } else { print "a is either either equal to or less than b" } namespace name { class dummy : public base { public: dummy( void ) { } }; } "Luck is the residue of Design"