In some languages it's better to use it, eg. in Java you can go with:

   mString != null && mString.equals("test")

or

   "test".equals(mString)

They do the same, but the second one adds hidden `defensive programming` to prevent NPE in `equals`. Saves time AND code.

Intended usage of if(a=b) should be written as if((a=b)). Don't know what tool you use at work or at home, but most static code analysers will point you that. Try SonarQube at least.

> It's unnatural, confusing to read ...

I feel as if that can rephrased "Don't do it because it is not done." A left-hand side constant is a convention that can have practical benefits in limited cases. Which at least should merit consideration.

"Don't do it because it is not done" is a good reason unless you're working solo and are sure your code will never be seen by others. And even then, it's a good idea to stick to what's done so you don't accumulate bad habits for projects that do have others looking at the code.

how would you write a yoda conditional with two variables? which is the yoda conditional (a == b), or (b == a)?

You can't if they're both mutable, since the whole idea of a yoda conditional is to put an immutable thing on the left side. What I meant was that you can't use them in that case, so it's a technique you can't use with 100% consistency.