Skip to content

javascript.builtins.String.substr - No spec level deprecation #29608

@saschanaz

Description

@saschanaz

What type of issue is this?

Incorrect support data (example: BrowserX says "86" but support was added in "40")

What information was incorrect, unhelpful, or incomplete?

BCD says it's deprecated (kinda?) and MDN uses it to say:

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

That's too broad definition of "deprecated". This specific function cannot be removed as doing so will cause a major webcompat harm, and I don't see plan from any browser vendors to do so, nor the spec says it's deprecated. We should not imply that it may be removed soon.

What browsers does this problem apply to, if applicable?

No response

What did you expect to see?

Unmark it, or maybe make two levels of deprecation - "not recommended" vs "being actually removed".

But then I think the latter will be removed completely from MDN with the modern policy, right?

Did you test this? If so, how?

(N/A)

Can you link to any release notes, bugs, pull requests, or MDN pages related to this?

No response

Do you have anything more you want to share?

No response

MDN URL

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/substr

MDN metadata

MDN page report details
  • Query: javascript.builtins.String.substr
  • Report started: 2026-05-05T14:44:05.495Z

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    javascriptPull requests that update javascript codep3Medium priority – Community PRs encouraged.

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions