What is the best practice use "Inner Join" o "Where" Example

Example A
select
DISTINCT(ET.DESCRIPTION)
FROM
EVENTTYPE ET INNER JOIN EVENTDCO E ON E.EVENTTYPEID = ET.EVENTTYPEID
INNER JOIN CONTEXTOPERATION CTX ON E.OPERATIONPK = CTX.ID

WHERE
E.OPERATIONPK = (
SELECT MAX(CTX.ID) FROM CONTEXTOPERATION CTX WHERE CTX.STATUS = 2 AND CTX.ID <> 16780769
AND CTX.ITEM = 32415097)


Example b


select
DISTINCT(ET.DESCRIPTION)
FROM
EVENTTYPE ET,
EVENTDCO E,
CONTEXTOPERATION CTX
WHERE
E.OPERATIONPK = CTX.ID
AND E.EVENTTYPEID = ET.EVENTTYPEID
AND E.OPERATIONPK = (
SELECT MAX(CTX.ID) FROM CONTEXTOPERATION CTX WHERE CTX.STATUS = 2 AND CTX.ID <> 16780769
AND CTX.ITEM = 32415097)



What is most optimal queries???