How can the use of the '@' operator in PHP code impact error handling and debugging?

Using the '@' operator in PHP code suppresses any error messages or warnings that would typically be displayed. While this can be useful in certain situations, it can make error handling and debugging more challenging as it hides potential issues in the code. To improve error handling and debugging, it's recommended to avoid using the '@' operator and instead implement proper error handling mechanisms.

// Bad practice: using '@' operator to suppress errors
$result = @file_get_contents('example.txt');

// Good practice: implementing error handling
$result = file_get_contents('example.txt');
if ($result === false) {
    echo "Error reading file.";
    // Additional error handling code can be added here
}