[clug-progsig] Odd PHP structure

[Shawn]

I'm working on a custom template for my website, and the sample code has the 
following snippet:

 <?php if ($sidebar_left != ""): ?>  
	<div id="sidebar-left">
		<?php print $sidebar_left ?>
	</div>
 <?php endif; ?>

The logic is crystal clear to me, but the syntax looks odd.  The manual says 
the right way to do a multiline if statement in PHP is like so:

<?php
if (condition) {
	statement;
	statement;
}
?>

Now, I can see that the difference is in how the if statement splits up PHP 
script blocks, but I would think the syntax would use braces like this:

 <?php if ($sidebar_left != "") { ?>  
	<div id="sidebar-left">
		<?php print $sidebar_left ?>
	</div>
 <?php } ?>

And apparently this works.  

Am I seeing an old style of PHP?  Am I missing something in the documentation?

Thanks for any tips.

Shawn