Having no Python experience, this seems like a very useful operator. Java and C# have something similar that i abuse constantly.,(reply>), @Jordan Bates the ++ operator can be used similarly iirc. so if you have int x = 0; print(x++), 1 will be printed and the value of x will be changed to 1,(reply>), python is not java or c#, which is precisely why everybody uses it,(reply>), @Wilco Verhoef I pronounce the = as I was dealing with physical memory. a = b as a receives b. You just need to know if b in this case is the value or the reference. A receives the reference of b,(reply>), Yes, it's useful, but for many is totally "unpythonic".  Python already has "with ... as" statements and, in my personal opinion, following that model would have fitted the language better.  Taking Lex's first example, this would look something like:<br><br>if re.match(...) as res:<br>    print(res.group(0)),(reply>), @Jordan Bates Java has something slightly different. Java's assignment operator, "=", just returns value that's being assigned.<br>So `if(x=42)` will throw a compile error (because it's nonboolean, and Java only checks Boolean values and does not check truthiness/falsiness) whereas `if((x=42)==3)` should compile.