I have always wondered about this, especially in C/Java style languages. For example, consider the first 3 lines of this C# code:

    lock (serviceLock)
    using (var client = new ServiceClient())
    try
    {
        // Do something
        client.DoSomething();
    }

    catch (System.ServiceModel.FaultException ex)
    {
        // Handle error
        addLog(ex.ToString());
    }

This usage has always seemed somewhat questionable to me. However, the alternative is not very practical either (3+ levels deep of indentation for a service call). Apart from pure aesthetics, is there any practical reason to add or not to add the extra brackets in this case?