Pro/con: Initializing a variable in a conditional statement

Question

In C++ you can initialize a variable in an if statement, like so:

if (CThing* pThing = GetThing())
{
}

Why would one consider this bad or g

Answer 1

if (CThing* pThing = GetThing())

It is bad style, because inside the if you are not providing a boolean expression. You are providing a CThing*.

CThing* pThing = GetThing();
if (pThing != NULL)

This is good style.