I still remember how I used to program. My syntax was horrible:

if keyboard_check(vk_left)
{
     x-=5;
}
if keyboard_check(vk_right)
{
     x+=5;
}
if keyboard_check(vk_up)
{
     y-=5;
}
if keyboard_check(vk_down)
{
     y+=5;
}

This is how I do it now...So much better:

if (keyboard_check(vk_left)){
     x -= 5;
}

if (keyboard_check(vk_right)){
     x += 5;
}

if (keyboard_check(vk_up)){
     y -= 5;
}

if (keyboard_check(vk_down)){
     y += 5;
}

Just imagine hundreds or sometimes thousands of lines of code similar to the first one....what a nightmare lol.

And once you've mastered C++, and have the official and secretive gold C++ guru medal around your neck, you code like this:

if(keyboard_check(vk_left))  x -= 5;
if(keyboard_check(vk_right)) x += 5;
if(keyboard_check(vk_up))    y -= 5;
if(keyboard_check(vk_down))  y += 5;

.

.

Seriously though, incase the original poster isn't joking, both those are commonly used syntaxes, and some professionals advocate for one, and some professionals advocate for another, and neither is necessarily superior than the other. I use the former "bad" example, or else the syntax I posted here. There are a dozen threads on GameDev.net debating the merits of each one if you want to learn more. Also, this would be called "coding style", not "syntax". Both of those share the same "syntax", but use different "styles".

i guess you could get crafty and make this work:

x+=vk==vkl?5:vk==vkr?-5:0;y+=vk==vku?-5:vk==vkd?5:0;

destroys all readability though ;)

[realized i could compress it a bit more ;)]

if your compiler allows logical and-ing ints: you can shorten it to this:

x+=vk&vkl?-5:vk&vkr?5:0;y+=vk&vku?-5:vk&vkd?5:0;

x += 5*(keyboard_check(vk_right) - keyboard_check(vk_left));
y += 5*(keyboard_check(vk_down) - keyboard_check(vk_up));

That's my syntax:

if (keyboard_check(vk_left));
x -= 5;
if (keyboard_check(vk_right));
x += 5;
if (keyboard_check(vk_up));
y -= 5;
if (keyboard_check(vk_down));
y += 5;

Oh wait...

Personally, I greatly dislike the opening bracket on the same line of code. Instead of just being able to scan horizontally for blocks of code now you must go horizontally until you see a closing bracket and then backtrack to find the open one instead of both being at the same tab stop. I prefer Waterlimon's way of doing it. But Servant's doesn't give me too much of a twitch. I'm very anal about my code looking 'pretty' and well aligned.