Deprecation: Difference between revisions
Steven Kelly (talk | contribs) m →Etymology: Corrected link to Jargon File on Gutenberg |
BilledMammal (talk | contribs) Post-move cleanup: Changed link from ABC News to ABC News (United States) using Move+ |
||
(22 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{short description|Discouragement of use of a technology, feature, design, or practice}} |
{{short description|Discouragement of use of a technology, feature, design, or practice}} |
||
{{distinguish|Depreciation}} |
{{distinguish|Depreciation}} |
||
{{distinguish|Obsolete}} |
|||
In several fields, especially [[computing]], '''deprecation''' is the discouragement of use of some terminology, feature, design, or practice, typically because it has been superseded or is no longer considered efficient or safe, without completely removing it or prohibiting its use. Typically, deprecated materials are not completely removed to ensure legacy compatibility or back up practice in case new methods are not functional in an odd scenario. |
|||
'''Deprecation''' is the discouragement of use of something human-made, such as a [[Terminology|term]], feature, [[design]], or practice. Typically something is deprecated because it is claimed to be inferior compared to other options available. |
|||
Something may be deprecated when it cannot be controlled,{{clarify|date=May 2024}} such as a term. Even when it can be controlled, something may be deprecated even when it might be useful {{endash}} for example, to ensure compatibility {{endash}} and it may be removed or discontinued at some time after being deprecated.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://openjdk.java.net/jeps/277|title=JEP 277: Enhanced Deprecation|website=openjdk.java.net|access-date=2018-02-09|archive-date=19 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919074206/http://openjdk.java.net/jeps/277|url-status=live}}</ref> |
|||
==Etymology== |
==Etymology== |
||
In general English usage, the |
In general English usage, the verb "to [[wikt:deprecate|deprecate]]" means "to express disapproval of (something)". It derives from the [[Latin]] [[deponent verb]] ''deprecari'', meaning "to ward off (a [[disaster]]) by prayer". |
||
An early documented usage of "deprecate" in this sense is in [[Usenet]] posts in 1984, referring to obsolete features in [[History of the Berkeley Software Distribution#4.2BSD|4.2BSD]] and the [[C (programming language)|C]] [[programming language]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shea |first=Ammon |title=A New Meaning of 'Deprecate' |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/deprecate |accessdate=2023-03-01 |website=Words We're Watching |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]}}</ref> An expanded definition of "deprecate" was cited in the [[Jargon File]] in its 1991 revision,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38 |title=The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10 |date=July 1992 |editor-last=Raymond |editor-first=Eric S. |editor-link=Eric S. Raymond |editor-last2=Steele |editor-first2=Guy L. |editor-link2=Guy L. Steele Jr. |via=[[Project Gutenberg]] |accessdate=2023-03-01}}</ref> and similar definitions are found in commercial software documentation from 2014<ref name=":0" /> and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Meghan |date=2023-02-27 |title=Windows client features lifecycle |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/feature-lifecycle |accessdate=2023-03-01 |work=What's new in Windows |publisher=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref> |
An early documented usage of "deprecate" in this sense is in [[Usenet]] posts in 1984, referring to obsolete features in [[History of the Berkeley Software Distribution#4.2BSD|4.2BSD]] and the [[C (programming language)|C]] [[programming language]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shea |first=Ammon |title=A New Meaning of 'Deprecate' |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/deprecate |accessdate=2023-03-01 |website=Words We're Watching |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]}}</ref> An expanded definition of "deprecate" was cited in the [[Jargon File]] in its 1991 revision,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38 |title=The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10 |date=July 1992 |editor-last=Raymond |editor-first=Eric S. |editor-link=Eric S. Raymond |editor-last2=Steele |editor-first2=Guy L. |editor-link2=Guy L. Steele Jr. |via=[[Project Gutenberg]] |accessdate=2023-03-01}}</ref> and similar definitions are found in commercial software documentation from 2014<ref name=":0" /> and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Meghan |date=2023-02-27 |title=Windows client features lifecycle |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/feature-lifecycle |accessdate=2023-03-01 |work=What's new in Windows |publisher=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref> |
||
Line 13: | Line 14: | ||
While a deprecated software feature remains in the software, its use may raise warning messages recommending alternative practices. Deprecated status may also indicate the feature will be removed in the future. Features are deprecated, rather than immediately removed, to provide backward compatibility and to give programmers time to bring affected code into compliance with the new standard. |
While a deprecated software feature remains in the software, its use may raise warning messages recommending alternative practices. Deprecated status may also indicate the feature will be removed in the future. Features are deprecated, rather than immediately removed, to provide backward compatibility and to give programmers time to bring affected code into compliance with the new standard. |
||
Notable reasons for deprecation include: |
|||
⚫ | |||
{|class=wikitable |
|||
⚫ | * |
||
!Reason!!Example(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
⚫ | |The feature has been replaced by a more powerful alternative feature.||The [[Linux kernel]] contains two modules to communicate with [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] networks: <CODE>smbfs</CODE> and <CODE>cifs</CODE>. The latter provides better security, supports more protocol features, and integrates better with the rest of the kernel. Since the inclusion of <CODE>cifs</CODE>, <CODE>smbfs</CODE> has been deprecated.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-05-15 |title=On the future of smbfs |url=https://lwn.net/Articles/183693/ |accessdate=2023-03-01 |work=LWN.net}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|||
|The feature contains a design flaw, frequently a security flaw, and so should be avoided, but existing code depends upon it.|| |
|||
⚫ | |||
| author = GNU |
| author = GNU |
||
| title = The GNU C Library |
| title = The GNU C Library |
||
Line 27: | Line 34: | ||
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210126185245/http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/ |
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210126185245/http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/ |
||
| url-status = live |
| url-status = live |
||
}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
| url = http://download.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/guides/concurrency/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html |
| url = http://download.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/guides/concurrency/threadPrimitiveDeprecation.html |
||
| title = Java Thread Primitive Deprecation |
| title = Java Thread Primitive Deprecation |
||
Line 36: | Line 45: | ||
| url-status = live |
| url-status = live |
||
}}</ref> |
}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|||
|The feature is considered extraneous and will be removed in a planned future version.||Early versions of the [[World Wide Web|Web]] [[markup language]] [[HTML]] included a <CODE>FONT</CODE> 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 <code>FONT</code> element became extraneous, and detracted from the benefits of noting structural markup in HTML and graphical formatting in CSS. Thus, the <CODE>FONT</CODE> element was deprecated in the ''Transitional'' HTML 4.0 standard, and eliminated in the ''Strict'' variant.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Musciano |first1=Chuck |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77574682 |title=HTML & XHTML : the definitive guide |last2=Kennedy |first2=Bill |date=2007 |publisher=O'Reilly |isbn=978-0-596-52732-7 |edition=6th |location=Beijing |chapter=HTML’s Obsolete Expanded Font Handling |oclc=77574682 |chapter-url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/html-xhtml/0596527322/ch04s10.html}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | * |
||
|- |
|||
*''Standardization or increased consistency in naming.'' Projects that are developed over long periods of time, or by multiple individuals or groups, can contain inconsistencies in the naming of various items. These might result from a lack of foresight, changes in nomenclature over time, or personal, regional, or educational differences in terminology. Since merely renaming an item would break backwards compatibility, the existing name must be left in place. The original name will likely remain indefinitely, but will be deprecated to encourage use of the newer, more consistent naming convention. An example would be an [[application programming interface|API]] that alternately used the spelling "color" and "colour". Standardization would result in the use of only one of the regional spellings throughout, and all occurrences of the other spelling would be deprecated. |
|||
|A planned future version of the software will make major structural changes, making it impossible or impractical to support older features.|| |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | *When [[Apple Inc.]] planned the transition from [[Mac OS 9]] to [[Mac OS X]], it created a [[subset]] of the older system's [[application programming interface|API]] which would support most programs with minor changes: the [[Carbon (API)|Carbon]] library (which has since been deprecated itself), available in both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. Programmers who were, at the time, chiefly using Mac OS 9, could ensure that their programs would run natively on Mac OS X by using only the API functions supported in Carbon. Other Mac OS 9 functions were deprecated, and were never supported natively in Mac OS X.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simenel |first=Éric |date=2000 |title=Carbonization 101 |volume=16 |work=MacTech |issue=12 |url=http://preserve.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.16/16.12/Carbonization101/index.html |accessdate=2023-03-01}}</ref> |
||
*Naming consistency: A library may expose names that are inconsistent. For example, an [[application programming interface|API]] that uses both "color" and "colour" is inconsistent. To enforce consistency, all identifiers using one spelling would be duplicated for{{clarify|date=May 2024}} the other spelling and identifiers using the unfavored spelling deprecated. |
|||
|- |
|||
⚫ | |A feature that once was available independently is combined with its co-feature.|| In [[VLC Media Player]], VLC used to stand for "VideoLan Client", and a separate "VideoLan Server" was available as its co-feature. Both the client and server became available in the same package, and so getting one independently would be impractical.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The cross-platform streaming solution |url=https://www.videolan.org/vlc/streaming.html |accessdate=2023-03-01 |work=VideoLAN}}</ref> |
||
|} |
|||
==Other usage== |
==Other usage== |
||
A [[building code]] example is the use of [[AC power plugs and sockets#Earthing (grounding)|ungrounded ("2-prong") electrical receptacles]] |
A [[building code]] example is the use of [[AC power plugs and sockets#Earthing (grounding)|ungrounded ("2-prong") electrical receptacles]] (UK English: "unearthed"). Over time, these older devices were widely deprecated in favor of safer grounded ("3-prong") receptacles. The older, ungrounded receptacles were still permitted in many places by "[[grandfathering]]" them in existing [[electrical wiring]], while prohibiting them for new installations. Thus, though ungrounded receptacles may still be available for legal purchase in a location where they are obsolete, they would generally be intended only for repairs to existing older electrical installations. |
||
In writing and [[editing]], usage of a word may be deprecated because it is ambiguous, confusing, or offensive to some readers. For example, the words ''sanction'' and ''[[inflammable]]'' may be misinterpreted because they have [[auto-antonym]]ic or self-contradictory meanings; writing style guides often recommend substituting other words that are clearly understood and unambiguous. Some word usages that have acquired different connotations over time, such as ''[[gay]]'' or ''[[colored]]'', may be deprecated as obsolete in formal writing. |
In writing and [[editing]], usage of a word may be deprecated because it is ambiguous, confusing, or offensive to some readers. For example, the words ''sanction'' and ''[[inflammable]]'' may be misinterpreted because they have [[auto-antonym]]ic or self-contradictory meanings; writing style guides often recommend substituting other words that are clearly understood and unambiguous. Some word usages that have acquired different connotations over time, such as ''[[gay]]'' or ''[[colored]]'', may be deprecated as obsolete in formal writing. |
||
Line 48: | Line 62: | ||
In [[technical standard]]s, use of a certain clause may be discouraged or superseded by new clauses. As an example, in the [[Ethernet]] standard [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]] 802.3-2012, Clause 5 (Layer Management) is "deprecated" by Clause 30 (Management), except for 5.2.4. |
In [[technical standard]]s, use of a certain clause may be discouraged or superseded by new clauses. As an example, in the [[Ethernet]] standard [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]] 802.3-2012, Clause 5 (Layer Management) is "deprecated" by Clause 30 (Management), except for 5.2.4. |
||
Deprecation may also occur when a technical term becomes [[Obsolescence|obsolete]], either through change or supersession. An example from [[paleontology]] is the previously deprecated term ''[[Brontosaurus]]'' |
Deprecation may also occur when a technical term becomes [[Obsolescence|obsolete]], either through change or supersession.{{clarify|date=May 2024}} An example from [[paleontology]] is the previously deprecated term ''[[Brontosaurus]]'': before being recognized once again as a unique genus,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/brontosaurus-finally-validated-distinct-dinosaur-species/story?id=30134546 |title=Brontosaurus Finally Validated as a Distinct Dinosaur |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=27 June 2020 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409073314/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/brontosaurus-finally-validated-distinct-dinosaur-species/story?id=30134546 |url-status=live }}</ref> it was considered a popular, yet deprecated, name for the genus ''[[Apatosaurus]]''.<ref name=UBD04>{{cite book |last=Upchurch|first=Paul |author2=Barrett, Paul M. |author3=Dodson, Peter |editor=Weishampel, David B. |editor2=Dodson, Peter |editor3=Osmólska, Halszka |title=The Dinosauria |url=https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis|url-access=limited|edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dinosauriandedit00weis/page/n277 259]–322 |chapter=Sauropoda}}</ref> Some deprecated terms in medicine are ''consumption'' ([[tuberculosis]]), ''grippe'' ([[influenza]]), and ''apoplexy'' ([[stroke]]). In [[chemical nomenclature]], the international standards organization [[IUPAC]] (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has deprecated the term "methyl ethyl ketone", and now recommends using the term "[[ethyl methyl ketone]]" instead.<ref name=iupac2013>{{cite book | title = Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry : IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013 (Blue Book) | publisher = [[Royal Society of Chemistry|The Royal Society of Chemistry]] | date = 2014 | location = Cambridge | page = 725 | doi = 10.1039/9781849733069-FP001 | doi-broken-date = 1 June 2024 | isbn = 978-0-85404-182-4}}</ref> |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
*[[Abandonware]] |
*[[Abandonware]] |
||
*[[Grandfather clause]] |
|||
*[[List of deprecated terms for diseases]] |
*[[List of deprecated terms for diseases]] |
||
*[[Obsolescence]] |
*[[Obsolescence]] |
||
Line 63: | Line 78: | ||
{{Wiktionary}} |
{{Wiktionary}} |
||
* [http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/javadoc/deprecation/deprecation.html How and When To Deprecate APIs] from the JDK 5.0 Documentation |
* [http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/javadoc/deprecation/deprecation.html How and When To Deprecate APIs] from the JDK 5.0 Documentation |
||
* [http://www.winitor.com Detect deprecated functions] A tool that discovers deprecated functions in any Windows native application or library. |
|||
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} |
||
Revision as of 08:26, 3 July 2024
Deprecation is the discouragement of use of something human-made, such as a term, feature, design, or practice. Typically something is deprecated because it is claimed to be inferior compared to other options available.
Something may be deprecated when it cannot be controlled,[clarification needed] such as a term. Even when it can be controlled, something may be deprecated even when it might be useful – for example, to ensure compatibility – and it may be removed or discontinued at some time after being deprecated.[1]
Etymology
In general English usage, the verb "to deprecate" means "to express disapproval of (something)". It derives from the Latin deponent verb deprecari, meaning "to ward off (a disaster) by prayer".
An early documented usage of "deprecate" in this sense is in Usenet posts in 1984, referring to obsolete features in 4.2BSD and the C programming language.[2] An expanded definition of "deprecate" was cited in the Jargon File in its 1991 revision,[3] and similar definitions are found in commercial software documentation from 2014[1] and 2023.[4]
Software
While a deprecated software feature remains in the software, its use may raise warning messages recommending alternative practices. Deprecated status may also indicate the feature will be removed in the future. Features are deprecated, rather than immediately removed, to provide backward compatibility and to give programmers time to bring affected code into compliance with the new standard.
Notable reasons for deprecation include:
Reason | Example(s) |
---|---|
The feature has been replaced by a more powerful alternative feature. | The Linux kernel contains two modules to communicate with Windows networks: smbfs and cifs . The latter provides better security, supports more protocol features, and integrates better with the rest of the kernel. Since the inclusion of cifs , smbfs has been deprecated.[5]
|
The feature contains a design flaw, frequently a security flaw, and so should be avoided, but existing code depends upon it. |
|
The feature is considered extraneous and will be removed in a planned future version. | Early versions of the Web markup language HTML included a 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.[8]
|
A planned future version of the software will make major structural changes, making it impossible or impractical to support older features. |
|
A feature that once was available independently is combined with its co-feature. | In VLC Media Player, VLC used to stand for "VideoLan Client", and a separate "VideoLan Server" was available as its co-feature. Both the client and server became available in the same package, and so getting one independently would be impractical.[10] |
Other usage
A building code example is the use of ungrounded ("2-prong") electrical receptacles (UK English: "unearthed"). Over time, these older devices were widely deprecated in favor of safer grounded ("3-prong") receptacles. The older, ungrounded receptacles were still permitted in many places by "grandfathering" them in existing electrical wiring, while prohibiting them for new installations. Thus, though ungrounded receptacles may still be available for legal purchase in a location where they are obsolete, they would generally be intended only for repairs to existing older electrical installations.
In writing and editing, usage of a word may be deprecated because it is ambiguous, confusing, or offensive to some readers. For example, the words sanction and inflammable may be misinterpreted because they have auto-antonymic or self-contradictory meanings; writing style guides often recommend substituting other words that are clearly understood and unambiguous. Some word usages that have acquired different connotations over time, such as gay or colored, may be deprecated as obsolete in formal writing.
In technical standards, use of a certain clause may be discouraged or superseded by new clauses. As an example, in the Ethernet standard IEEE 802.3-2012, Clause 5 (Layer Management) is "deprecated" by Clause 30 (Management), except for 5.2.4.
Deprecation may also occur when a technical term becomes obsolete, either through change or supersession.[clarification needed] An example from paleontology is the previously deprecated term Brontosaurus: before being recognized once again as a unique genus,[11] it was considered a popular, yet deprecated, name for the genus Apatosaurus.[12] Some deprecated terms in medicine are consumption (tuberculosis), grippe (influenza), and apoplexy (stroke). In chemical nomenclature, the international standards organization IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has deprecated the term "methyl ethyl ketone", and now recommends using the term "ethyl methyl ketone" instead.[13]
See also
- Abandonware
- Grandfather clause
- List of deprecated terms for diseases
- Obsolescence
- Orphaned technology
References
- ^ a b "JEP 277: Enhanced Deprecation". openjdk.java.net. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ Shea, Ammon. "A New Meaning of 'Deprecate'". Words We're Watching. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ Raymond, Eric S.; Steele, Guy L., eds. (July 1992). The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10. Retrieved 1 March 2023 – via Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Stewart, Meghan (27 February 2023). "Windows client features lifecycle". What's new in Windows. Microsoft. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ "On the future of smbfs". LWN.net. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ GNU. "Line Input". The GNU C Library. GNU. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
Deprecated function: char * gets (char *s). ... The
gets
function is very dangerous because it provides no protection against overflowing the strings
. The GNU library includes it for compatibility only. You should always usefgets
orgetline
instead. - ^ "Java Thread Primitive Deprecation". Oracle. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Musciano, Chuck; Kennedy, Bill (2007). "HTML's Obsolete Expanded Font Handling". HTML & XHTML : the definitive guide (6th ed.). Beijing: O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-52732-7. OCLC 77574682.
- ^ Simenel, Éric (2000). "Carbonization 101". MacTech. Vol. 16, no. 12. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ "The cross-platform streaming solution". VideoLAN. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ "Brontosaurus Finally Validated as a Distinct Dinosaur". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
- ^ Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry : IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013 (Blue Book). Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry. 2014. p. 725. doi:10.1039/9781849733069-FP001 (inactive 1 June 2024). ISBN 978-0-85404-182-4.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2024 (link)
External links
- How and When To Deprecate APIs from the JDK 5.0 Documentation