Deprecation achieves very little unless you can persuade people to re-write old code.
I wasn't really suggesting that people be forced to rewrite old code.
Otherwise, compiler vendors have to provide two "modes" of compilation: strict and legacy.
I couldn't say for other compilers but G++ at least lets you set which version of the standard you wish to compile with.
Much the same goes for loud compiler warnings. People just compile their "old" code with the warnings off. However, these *can* be used to ensure that nasty old practices are not accidentally re-introduced in a modern codebase.
If the standards committee deprecated more stuff we'd at least get warnings when compiling C++11 code that contained superseded C++98 features. As it is, setting the -std flag on the compiler only prevents you from using features introduced after that standard's publication.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
