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In computer software standards and documentation, the term deprecation is used to indicate discouragement of usage of a particular software feature, usually because it has been superseded by a newer/better version. The deprecated feature still works in the current version of the software, but it may raise error messages or warnings recommending an alternate practice. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Computer program. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Features typically 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, their programmers need time to change their code to avoid the feature. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Programmers or standards-makers may choose to deprecate a feature for any number of reasons. Some common cases are:

• The feature has been replaced by a more powerful, alternative feature. For instance, the Linux kernel contains two filesystem drivers to access Windows file servers — 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.
• The feature contains a design flaw—frequently a security flaw—and so should be avoided, but existing code depends upon it. The C standard function 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.
• The feature is considered extraneous, and will be removed in the future in order to simplify the system as a whole. 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.
• A future version of the software is planned to make major structural changes, which make it impossible (or impractical) to support older features. For instance, when Apple Computer planned the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X, it created a subset of the older system's API which would support most programs with minor changes. This became the Carbon library, 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 in Carbon. Other Mac OS 9 functions were deprecated, and were never supported natively in Mac OS X.

This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... A kernel connects the application software to the hardware of a computer. ... See Filing system for this term as it is used in libraries and offices In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ... “Windows” redirects here. ... C is a general-purpose, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. ... gets is a function in the C standard library, declared in the header file stdio. ... In computer security and programming, a buffer overflow, or buffer overrun, is a programming error which may result in a memory access exception and program termination, or in the event of the user being malicious, a possible breach of system security. ... A diagram of the operation of a typical multi-language, multi-target compiler. ... WWWs historical logo designed by Robert Cailliau The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. ... A specialized markup language using SGML is used to write the electronic version of the Oxford English Dictionary. ... HTML, short for Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ... A font can mean: A member of a typeface family; or digital font - file format that encapsulates a typeface family in a database. ... “CSS” redirects here. ... Apple Inc. ... Sherlock 2 for Mac OS 9 with the new metallic appearance Mac OS 9 is the final major release of Apples Classic Mac OS. Introduced on October 23, 1999, Apple positioned it as The Best Internet Operating System Ever, highlighting Sherlock 2s Internet search capabilities, integration with Apple... Mac OS X (IPA: ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... “Superset” redirects here. ... API and Api redirect here. ... Carbon is the codename of Apple Computers APIs for the Macintosh operating system, which permits a good degree of backward compatibility between source code written to run on the classic Mac OS, and the newer Mac OS X. The APIs are published and accessed in the form of C...

Etymology

In mainstream English, the infinitive "to deprecate" means, simply, "to strongly disapprove of (something)". It derives from the Latin verb deprecare, meaning "to ward off (a disaster) by prayer." It has come, for various reasons, to be a synonym for "depreciate".^[1] For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...

Thus, for a standards document to state that a feature is deprecated is merely a recommendation against using it. This can be contrasted with the word obsolete, which means specifically that the feature has been superseded by a newer version (and in fact one could think of pedantic examples where the newer feature is actually the "deprecated" one). Obsolescence is a made up word referring to the state of being which occurs when a person, object, or service is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. ...

Other usage

A particular term or expression may be deprecated when the term becomes obsolete, essentially superfluous and either has no meaning or serves no purpose and becomes essentially empty verbiage. For example, in copyright, it was common to comply with the terms of the Buenos Aires Convention treaty by including a statement of rights such as all rights reserved, however, once every country that was a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention also became a signatory to the Berne Convention treaty (because Berne does not require any form of notice), the use of the term "all rights reserved" has been essentially deprecated, as it no longer serves any purpose and grants no additional right or protection not already available if the statement were never used. In this instance, deprecated is a better term to describe the condition than obsolete, because, a term that is deprecated might have some use or value. An example in paleontology would be Brontosaurus, a deprecated term for the genus Apatosaurus. The Buenos Aires Convention was a treaty proposed in 1910 which provided for copyright protection in all countries that were signatory to the convention, for a work created in any member country, where the work carries a notice containing a statement of reservation of rights. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... All rights reserved is a phrase that originated in copyright law as part of copyright notices. ... For the treaty establishing the General Postal Union, see Treaty of Bern. ... Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, ancient; ontos, being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. ... Binomial name (Marsh, 1879) vide Riggs, 1903 Synonyms Brontosaurus excelsus Marsh, 1879c Brontosaurus (pronounced ), meaning thunder lizard (from the Greek brontē/βροντη meaning thunder and sauros/σαυρος meaning lizard), is a deprecated genus of sauropod dinosaurs. ... Species Apatosaurus ajax Apatosaurus excelsus Apatosaurus louisae Apatosaurus (pronounced ) meaning deceptive lizard, because its chevron bones were like those of Mosasaurus (Greek apatelos or apatelios = deceptive + sauros = lizard), often mistakenly referred to as Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived about 140 million years ago, during the Jurassic...

See also

Look up Deprecation in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Abandonware
• Orphaned technology

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Abandonware is widely thought to be computer software that is no longer current. ... Orphaned Technology is a descriptive term for computer products, programs, and platforms that have been abandoned by their original developers. ...

References

1. ^ (2000) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.