Java reference

@Deprecated

Marks an outdated class, method or field. The compiler warns when they are used.

Available since: Java 5

Syntax

@Documented @Retention(RUNTIME) public @interface Deprecated

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
since	String	The version in which the element became deprecated (Java 9).
forRemoval	boolean	true means the element will be removed in a future version (Java 9).

Examples

A deprecated method still works, and the annotation is available at run time:

class Calculator {
    @Deprecated(since = "2.0", forRemoval = true)
    int add(int a, int b) {
        return sum(a, b);
    }
 
    int sum(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
}
 
void main() throws Exception {
    IO.println(new Calculator().add(2, 3));
 
    Deprecated info = Calculator.class
        .getDeclaredMethod("add", int.class, int.class)
        .getAnnotation(Deprecated.class);
    IO.println(info.since() + " " + info.forRemoval());
}

Output:

5
2.0 true

Using a deprecated JDK API — the compiler prints a warning, but the program still runs:

void main() {
    Integer n = new Integer(5);
    IO.println(n);
}

Output:

Main.java:2: warning: [deprecation] Integer(int) in Integer has been deprecated
    Integer n = new Integer(5);
                ^
1 warning
5

Notes

Along with the annotation, the Javadoc gets a @deprecated tag explaining what to use instead. The warning appears only when the element is used from another top-level class; inside the same file class there is none. Warnings are turned off with @SuppressWarnings("deprecation"), and for forRemoval = true with @SuppressWarnings("removal").

In the tutorial

Annotations — Annotations in Java — @Override, @Deprecated, @FunctionalInterface, @SuppressWarnings, declaring your own annotation, @Retention, @Target and reading annotations at run time.

Thanks for reading!