What are the implications of using deprecated functions like ereg_replace in PHP development?

Using deprecated functions like ereg_replace in PHP development can lead to compatibility issues with newer versions of PHP and potential security vulnerabilities. It is recommended to replace deprecated functions with their modern counterparts to ensure the code remains functional and secure.

// Before
$old_string = "Hello, World!";
$new_string = ereg_replace("[^A-Za-z0-9]", "", $old_string);

// After
$new_string = preg_replace("/[^A-Za-z0-9]/", "", $old_string);