coding style - Is it a bad practice to use an if-statement without curly braces?

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Answer 1

The problem with the first version is that if you go back and add a second statement to the if or else clauses without remembering to add the curly braces, your code will break in unexpected and amusing ways.

Maintainability-wise, it's always smarter to use the second form.

EDIT: Ned points this out in the comments, but it's worth linking to here, too, I think. This is not just some ivory-tower hypothetical bullshit: https://www.imperialviolet.org/2014/02/22/applebug.html