title: Odd coding style of IF block in PL/SQL
body: <p>Where I work, I see lot's of the following type of code written in PL/SQL,</p>
  
  <pre><code>IF a&gt;b THEN
    NULL;
  ELSE
    c:=a*b;
  END IF;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I find this odd because a C equivalent would look like this,</p>
  
  <pre><code>if (a&gt;b)
  {
  
  }
  else
  {
    c=a*b;
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>And the above type of code has been frowned upon as bad style in a C forum that I know when posted by newbies.
  As PL/SQL doesn't allow empty blocks and always require a NULL statement, does this type of coding style bring any advantages w.r.t readability or is it just a matter of preference?. FWIW, the guy who coded PL/SQL with the above style certainly seems to be a seasoned coder.
  Is there any advantage compared to the following?</p>
  
  <pre><code>IF a&lt;=b THEN
    c:=a*b;
  END IF;
  </code></pre>