What does the @ operator do in PHP?

The @ operator in PHP is known as the error control operator. It is used to suppress error messages that would otherwise be displayed to the user. This can be useful in situations where you want to handle errors in a custom way or prevent error messages from disrupting the flow of your code. Example:

// Using the @ operator to suppress error messages
$result = @file_get_contents('example.txt');

if ($result === false) {
    // Handle the error in a custom way
    echo 'Error loading file.';
}