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PEP 4 – Deprecation of Standard Modules | peps.python.org
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark"> <title>PEP 4 – Deprecation of Standard Modules | peps.python.org</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../_static/py.png"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0004/"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/style.css" type="text/css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/mq.css" type="text/css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" id="pyg-light"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments_dark.css" type="text/css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" id="pyg-dark"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Latest PEPs" href="https://peps.python.org/peps.rss"> <meta property="og:title" content='PEP 4 – Deprecation of Standard Modules | peps.python.org'> <meta property="og:description" content="When new modules were added to the standard Python library in the past, it was not possible to foresee whether they would still be useful in the future. 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Even though Python “Comes With Batteries Included”, batteries may discharge over time. Carrying old modules around is a burden on the maintainer, especially when there is no interest in the module anymore.</p> <p>At the same time, removing a module from the distribution is difficult, as it is not known in general whether anybody is still using it. This PEP defines a procedure for removing modules from the standard Python library. Usage of a module may be ‘deprecated’, which means that it may be removed from a future Python release.</p> </section> <section id="procedure-for-declaring-a-module-deprecated"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#procedure-for-declaring-a-module-deprecated" role="doc-backlink">Procedure for declaring a module deprecated</a></h2> <p>To remove a top-level module/package from the standard library, a PEP is required. The deprecation process is outlined in <a class="pep reference internal" href="../pep-0387/" title="PEP 387 – Backwards Compatibility Policy">PEP 387</a>.</p> <p>For removing a submodule of a package in the standard library, <a class="pep reference internal" href="../pep-0387/" title="PEP 387 – Backwards Compatibility Policy">PEP 387</a> must be followed, but a PEP is not required.</p> </section> <section id="copyright"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#copyright" role="doc-backlink">Copyright</a></h2> <p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p> </section> </section> <hr class="docutils" /> <p>Source: <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-0004.rst">https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-0004.rst</a></p> <p>Last modified: <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/peps/commits/main/peps/pep-0004.rst">2023-09-09 17:39:29 GMT</a></p> </article> <nav id="pep-sidebar"> <h2>Contents</h2> <ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#procedure-for-declaring-a-module-deprecated">Procedure for declaring a module deprecated</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#copyright">Copyright</a></li> </ul> <br> <a id="source" href="https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-0004.rst">Page Source (GitHub)</a> </nav> </section> <script src="../_static/colour_scheme.js"></script> <script src="../_static/wrap_tables.js"></script> <script src="../_static/sticky_banner.js"></script> </body> </html>