`if (a = b)' (was Standard indentation?)

[Badri Lokanathan]

In article <14945 at mimsy.UUCP>, chris at mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) writes:
> I still prefer two separate statements, with one exception:
> (example follows.) 

I am missing something here. Why is

a = expr; if (a == b) {statement}

preferable, in general, to

if ((a = expr) == b) {statement}

I think the second form is more concise and often more readable,
as per K & R II ed., pp. 16-17.
-- 
"I care about my fellow man              {) badri at ee.rochester.edu
 Being taken for a ride,                //\\ {ames,cmcl2,columbia,cornell,
 I care that things start changing     ///\\\ garp,harvard,ll-xn,rutgers}!
 But there's no one on my side."-UB40   _||_   rochester!ur-valhalla!badri