Java code formatting

[JamesCherrill]

I'm curious. Why is so much code in this forum formatted like this

if (something)
{
  do something
}
else
{
  do another thing
}

rather than

if (something) {
  do something
} else {
  do another thing
}

The first version is harder to read and takes up more lines, which means more blocks spanning more than 1 window vertically.
The second version is easier to read, more compact, and is the style consistently used in the Java Language Specification, the Sun/Oracle tutorials, and the source code of the API itself.
So why do people persist in using version 1?

[hfx642]

James, James, James, James, James...

Nope. I've been a professional developer for close to 30 years.
The first method, matches the traditional

if (condition) then
Begin
End
Else
Begin
End

Plus... It makes it SOOOO much easier to match the "}" with the previous "{".

I personnally don't like the second method.
I can't see if my "{}" match!
I see a bunch of "}"s, but I can't (easily) see where the code block starts.That's my story... and I'm stickin' to it!!

And now ya know.

[Ezzaral]

I'm with James. I hate the first method.

[NormR1]

I prefer the second method because when I use the editor's "Find matching brace" function from a } it displays the line with the statement I'm looking for. With the { on an empty line I have to scroll up one to see where I am in the code.
That's probably my editor, I don't know about others.

[javaNooblet]

I am in my second Java class now(I'm a noob!) but our book and professors for the courses at my school use the first method that you have shown. So, that may explain some students doing that method. I like the second method better though.

[JamesCherrill]

Thanks everyone (so far!). Of course it's a matter of personal preference, but I wondered why the style used in all the official Java docs and code wasn't the de-facto standard. Maybe javaNooblet's explanation is the real answer? Any maybe hfx642's view is the reason why school professors prefer 1?

@hfx642: do you really get your view of code structure by matching { and }? I always use an automatic code formatter, so I can always rely on the indentation.

ps: One time I really dislike option 1 is when I get confused by code that goes

...
  ...
  ...
}
while (something);
{
  ...
  ...
  ...

as opposed to

...
  ...
  ...
}
while (something)
{
  ...
  ...
  ...