- strpos: documentation ( source)
<?php
$identifier = "a@z.com";
$identifier2 = "another";
echo "Original";
echo "B: " . (strpos($identifier, '@') === false ? false : true) ."\n";
echo "B: " . (strpos($identifier2, '@') === false ? false : true) ."\n";
echo "\n";
echo "Improve";
echo "B: " . ((bool) strpos($identifier, '@') !== false) ."\n";
echo "B: " . ((bool) strpos($identifier2, '@') !== false) ."\n";