Good method to handle large amounts of unused or deprecated feature implemenations in code?

If you are certain that the code is unused, definitely delete it. I assume you have a version control system, so if you ever need it again, you can still find the code back.

If you are certain that the code is unused, definitely delete it. I assume you have a version control system, so if you ever need it again, you can still find the code back. Deleting the unused code will make the project easier to maintain, and your team probably will end up saving time in the long run (nobody will re-read the code to try and understand what it was used for, nobody will end up changing said code thinking it may still be used...) However, if your code contains a public API that is distributed, you will probably want to mark the classes/methods deprecated for some time before effectively deleting the code, so the callers have some time to adapt (or inform you of the issue).

Thanks! Definitly some good Arguments here. FYI: we are not having a public API, but there is lots of thightly connected Lecacy Code :( so removing Stuff is quite some Effort ... – Paul Weber Dec 17 '10 at 14:28.

Would you remove the old Code, or hope that it may awake some time ... zombie - like I'd definitely remove it. I hate having to work out if functions ever get called. Do you think that it is worth the Effort to remove the Code (less work to find stuff in the clutter, better test coverage, easier for other people to find their way) Yes, definitely worth the effort.

Should we keep the Code somewhere, as a reference? Um, you are using version control softwarev, aren't you?

Thanks for the answer. We are using SVN, but it is pretty hard to find the latest Version used before the code was deleted, so I was thinking more about a deprecated folder somewhere, so people might know that there was code (but maybe it is even better to hide the fact that the code once existed ... ). Programming without version control is suicide ... been there, done that ... – Paul Weber Dec 17 '10 at 14:23 1 @Paul Tag it in SVN before you delete it.

– unquiet mind Dec 17 '10 at 14:26.

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