Deprecated

In programming, a deprecated function is one which is still available, but which you should not use in new programs.

Keeping a function around, but deprecating it, is usually done to maintain backwards-compatibility with old programs.

Usually, a deprecated function is replaced with one or more new functions that do the same thing.

For instance, in the PICO-8 API, the original mapdraw() function was renamed to just map() for the sake of simplicity and consistency. The original function name was deprecated, but not removed, to avoid breaking old carts. However, new carts should use map().

Occasionally, a function needs to be removed entirely. In these cases, the function may be deprecated for a period of time before it is removed. This is done so people who use the function have an opportunity to change their code before the function disappears and breaks it.