I think a lot of the

if(...){
...
}

type of using bracket is from
the times when screensizes where small.
So The programmer saw maybe only 15 Lines of code at once
in the small window.

I prefer to see the code-list as long as possible nowerdays.

More importantly than the formatation is the
NAMING and COMMENTS in the code.

using too short and non-meaning variable / class names is
terrible.
Modern IDEs also have helpers to find attribute and function names of classes quickly, so even long names can be insterted quickly. (Eclipse etc.)

And I also wonder, when obsering code of other, how
little comments they add to it.

There is no reason to leave out comments about what the code is
dooing and what it is for. Having to "parse" the code manually
every time when looking at others code is an unnessesary waste of time.
The comments are usually shown in another color, so they dont really distract from reading
the doe itself.