@variable_name

[Anon]

what does the "@" in @$variable_name signify?

[andrin]

From TFM:

All PHP expressions can also be called with the "@" prefix, which turns off error reporting for that particular expression. If an error occurred during such an expression and the track_errors feature is enabled, you can find the error message in the global variable $php_errormsg.

/Andrin

[[deleted]]

In short: only use this if you know what you are doing.