fs.exists, fs.existsSync - why are they deprecated?

Question

I noticed that the official node documentation says something startling about fs.exists:

\"fs.exists() is an anachronism and exists only

Answer 1

I think it because it's redundant. You can check if a file exists by trying to open it. It will give you ENOENT if it doesn't exist:

> fs.open('foo', 'r', function(err, fd) {
    ... console.log(err, fd);
    ... 
})
undefined
> { [Error: ENOENT, open 'foo'] errno: 34, code: 'ENOENT', path: 'foo' } undefined