We hear the advice 'expose to the right' or 'expose for the highlights' which to some extent contradict each other.

This is always an interesting discussion and I'm sure members have lots of opinions.

This article explains expose to the right.

The article says don't let the histogram bump up against the RHS which will lead to blown highlights.

So to me setting +/-Ev (or whatever you do in manual) is about getting the right exposure for the conditions.
Blown highlights are the worst problem ONLY IF they have detail you actually wanted.
Eg: a shot of a car with lots of chrome will have some blown bits - no drama; but
a photo of a 'blond beach babe' where the models hair is blown is not so good.

In the end "Expose to the right if you can" makes more sense to me.

The solution for getting a good exposure may well be HDR (multi exposure) and/or grad filters,
but these options are not always available.

You may get less noise when you slightly over expose, but a slight under exposure (to the left) means you save those highlights.
Which is right? To me it depends on the subject and what you trying to capture.

So please share your thoughts about exposing for landscapes and sunsets, sports, wildlife etc.