Web Feature Deprecation: A Case Study for Chrome
Ariana Mirian, Nikunj Arunkumar Bhagat, Caitlin Sadowski, Adrienne Porter Felt, Stefan Savage, Geoffrey M. Voelker · 2019
Deprecation - signaling that a function is becoming obsolete in the near future - is necessary for the web ecosystem. However, an unsuccessful deprecation can lead to pain for both developers and end-users. In this paper, we analyze web feature deprecations with the goal of improving Chrome's deprecation process by balancing the need for deprecation and minimizing user pain. We produce a taxonomy of reasons why developers want to deprecate web features and a deprecation methodology for deciding when it is safe to deprecate a web feature. We also discuss the challenges faced during the deprecation process.