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In computer software standards and documentation, deprecation is the gradual phasing-out of a software or programming language feature. A feature or method marked as deprecated is one which is considered obsolete, and whose use is discouraged. The feature still works in the current version of the software, although it may raise error messages as warnings. These serve to alert the user to the fact that the feature may be removed in future releases. Features get marked as deprecated, rather than simply removed, in order to provide backward compatibility for software users. When other programs depend on the deprecated feature, programmers need time to change their code to avoid the feature. Programmers or standards-makers may choose to deprecate a feature for any number of reasons. Some common cases are: smbfs and cifsfs. The later cifsfs provides better security, supports more server features, and integrates better with the rest of the kernel. Since the inclusion of cifsfs, smbfs has been deprecated.gets() is an example of this. Using this function can introduce a buffer overflow into the program that uses it. However, it cannot be removed as it is part of the C standard, and a compiler which lacks it would be out of conformance. Therefore, compilers raise warnings when it is used.FONT element, to allow page designers to specify the font in which text should be displayed. With the release of Cascading Style Sheets and HTML 4.0, the FONT element became extraneous, and detracted from the benefits of noting structural markup in HTML and graphical formatting in CSS. Thus, the FONT element was deprecated in the Transitional HTML 4.0 standard, and eliminated in the Strict variant.
Etymology In mainstream English, the verb "to deprecate" means, simply, "to disapprove of (something)". It derives from the Latin verb deprecare, meaning "to ward off (a disaster) by prayer." Thus, for a standards document to state that a feature is deprecated is a recommendation against using it. Alternately (and somewhat more dramatically), the writer implores users against using an old, bad feature so that it can be removed. It is often confused with the word "depreciate". Using deprecated programming language features may cause the value of a program to depreciate: eventually, the features will be removed, or the program will no longer run. Nonetheless, "deprecate" and "depreciate" are not synonyms. See also | ||||||||
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