syntax is great if you have blocks of html code in between your php. I find it’s easier to scan for endif; or endwhile; when there is mixed html and php rather than searching through code looking for that missing curly brace

To each his own? I love the : syntax, It’s more clear to me than using { }, I love {} too. It might be hard to debug I will give you that, but how is it that its hard to read and ugly? Ternary operators would save you a lot bytes if you have a lot of “if”s in the code. JMPO.

It’s ugly.
It’s hard to read.
It’s hard to debug.

The ternary operator is okay, but normally in if statement is better due to readability.

That’s just my opinion, probably the same as many others I’d say.

And yea, I don’t hate {}, I guess its my eyes
on a serious note when you are developing on PHP all day long counting braces even with editors highlighting it, it does take time. I find using alternative sytax much better, to each his own! thanks for your comment!

As for the alternative syntax, I personally don’t like it because it forces you to look for the end tag instead of having your editor find it and highlight it {} (most editors that I have tried anyway). The syntax also reminds me of smarty…. which I hate. To each his own I guess.