title: What does placing a @ in front of a C# variable name do?
body: <p>I've been working with some C# legacy code and I've been seeing a lot of @ symbols in front of variable names. What does this signify or do?</p>
  
  <p>Currently I'm seeing it a lot in front of variables with common names that aren't reserved. E.g.:</p>
  
  <pre><code>MyProcedure(@step.LoadInstanceId, @step.ResultCode, @step.StatusCode);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Given that step isn't a reserved word, is there any reason that they should be escaped?</p>