Code formatting helps make programs more readable and easier to maintain. Two common styles are K&R (Kernighan & Ritchie) and Allman.
In K&R style, the opening curly brace { appears on the same line as the statement (e.g., if or else). This keeps the code compact, using fewer lines.
K&R
Allman style places the opening brace on a new line. Though it takes more vertical space, it makes it easier to see where each code block starts and ends, improving readability for some.
Allman
The choice between K&R and Allman often depends on personal or team preferences. I learned using the K&R method and it seems much more common. But I found when trying to learn nested code blocks like the if-else-if-else statements in the C program shown above, that the Allman style helped me better see what was happening - ie - when I'm LEARNING a program, trying to understand the algorithm, etc. - I'll often write out the code in the Allman format - I think it really does help, especially for beginners. You can always default back to K&R once you've grasped what's going on.
Ben Santora - October 2024
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