difference between define(...) and @define(...)

Question

Quick question, what is the difference between the following two declarations:

define('I_LIKE_AT_SIGNS', false);

and

@define('I_LIKE_AT_SIGNS', true);

I.e. what does the @-sign do?

possible duplicate of [What is the use of @ symbol in php?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1032161/what-is-the-use-of-symbol-in-php) — Mark Elliot, Jul 10 '11 at 18:27
6 upvotes for a RTFM type of question? A quick google search for "php at sign" would have answered your question. — NikiC, Jul 10 '11 at 18:48
@NikiC: I agree, had a brain freeze and defaulted to StackOverflow. — Egil Hansen, Jul 10 '11 at 20:34

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 10 '11 at 18:26

13

The @ symbol is PHP's only error control operator, and when prepended to any expression, all errors associated with that expression are suppressed.

In this case, any errors associated with your define expression will be suppressed.

Use of the @ error suppression technique generally isn't encouraged or recommended. Instead, it's much better to use other error capture techniques so you can detect and handle the error.

answered Jul 10 '11 at 18:26

Mark Elliot

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It's also called "shut up" operator. – Gedrox Jul 10 '11 at 18:28
@Gedrox, This is Funny! – ikmazameti Feb 11 '22 at 16:10

tcnarss · Answer 2 · 2011-07-10T18:35:54.550

8

It prevents error messages I believe.

"In PHP, it is used just before an expression to make the interpreter suppress errors that would be generated from that expression" -- From wikipedia

Use with Caution!!

edited Jul 10 '11 at 18:35

answered Jul 10 '11 at 18:25

tcnarss

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And it is slow and makes your program hard to debug – Glass Robot Jul 10 '11 at 18:32
Agreed, it has caused me big problems in the past! i'll update my answer ;) – tcnarss Jul 10 '11 at 18:34

difference between define(...) and @define(...)

2 Answers2