Deprecation

Code is a liability, not an asset. Every line requires maintenance — bug fixes, dependency updates, security patches, cognitive overhead. When equivalent functionality requires less code or better abstraction, the old version should be retired.

Principles

Code as liability

Value comes from functionality, not code volume. Less code serving the same purpose is strictly better.

Hyrum's Law makes removal hard

All observable behaviors become dependencies. Users rely on bugs and undocumented side effects. Deprecation requires active migration, not just announcement.

No transitional architecture

Don't maintain two systems in parallel. Land the replacement, migrate consumers, remove the old system. Dual systems double maintenance cost.

The Churn Rule