@unlink bad practice?

Question

I'm usually against using @ , as this can cause a lot of headaches. But look at two examples:

 a) if(file_exists('file')) unlink('file'); 

.

 b) @unlink('file'); 

.

It seems that b causes less disk access, which is good for performance. So my question is: does option b cause me any problems or have any disadvantages with respect to a ?

Answer 1

I would just go first.

What if the file cannot be deleted due to another reason than just the fact that the file does not exist?