In #5841 we resolved that the points and the control points could be specified in any order, e.g. these are equivalent:
curve using 10px 30px by 20px 20px
curve by 20px 20px using 10px 30px
I'm having second thoughts. The by or to affect the interpretation of the control point coordinate pairs; they are either absolute (relative to the reference box), or relative to (the current point). So it's odd to specify the control points before you've given the by or to.
I think we should revert this part of the change.