Can I define a variable in a PHP if condition?

Question

For example, can I do:

if ($my_array = wp_get_category($id)) {
    echo \"asdf\";
} else {
    echo \"1234\";
}

If nothing is returned by t

Answer 1

Following is one more alternative to define any variable (with safety):

$my_array = ($my_array = $wp_get_category($id)) ?: /* else statement here */;