And assignment is a kinda common operation. So I hope you can see what's
wrong with it now.
No I do not. Not every imaginable use case should have dedicated
language construct for it - sometimes it is OK to type 2 lines of code.
Sometimes even 3. This case is well served by existing language syntax,
which also allows much more flexibility and control over what happens if
the variable does not match. I see no reason to invent language
construct the only purpose of which is to save you typing one if clause.
Let me ask you - do you think the existing PHP typehints are pointless too? Do you feel they don't give you enough flexibility? Do you feel they reinvented a language construct for the purpose of saving the typing of one if clause (per argument) (per method) (per class)?
And why do you keep ignoring the fact that IDE's need additional clutches to understand the type of the variable?
Stan