Deprecated modified by Hugh Greene

Hugh Greene — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 12:14:06 -0000

Deprecated in programming indicates that something (usually a
variable or a function,
although sometimes even a full API) is old and in the
process of being phased out; usually in favor of something newer. This
will appear in documentation to indicate to a programmer that they
should stop using the deprecated code and replace it with calls to the
newer replacement (if one exists), or else simply recode to avoid the
deprecated call.

Deprecated code may be maintained for a while for what is called Legacy
Support - effectively allowing programs (especially older programs) to
keep functioning even though a new version of the programming language
or dependency has been implemented. However, deprecated code is often
discarded after several new versions, either because it is assumed that
programmers have at that point gotten around to fixing the deprecated
code, or because the language or API wishes to branch out in a new/fresh
direction. It is at this point that exceptionally old programs tend to
cease functioning or otherwise behave undesirably.

It is also not uncommon for deprecated code to remain, but not be
maintained. The underlying behavior (based on other function calls being
updated or changed) may change and the deprecated code may start to act
undesirably, even though it hasn't been phased out entirely yet. A good
example of this in Game Maker is the deprecated
image_single variable.

It is common courtesy within the documentation of a deprecated code to
also indicate the intended replacement code(s). Otherwise a programmer
may become confused or frustrated when they find the code they are
familiar with is being deprecated, and then they either have to spend
valuable time searching for a replacement, or succumb to knowing that
the code they are writing is deprecated and may break soon.

Within this wiki, deprecated items are documented with the Deprecated
template.

Recent changes to Deprecated

Deprecated modified by Hugh Greene