Deprecate float(::String)

Fixes #24219

base/deprecated.jl

@@ -1893,6 +1893,10 @@ end
 # issue #24006
 @deprecate linearindices(s::AbstractString) eachindex(s)
 
+# Issue 24219
+@deprecate float(x::AbstractString) parse(Float64, x)
+@deprecate float(a::AbstractArray{<:AbstractString}) parse.(Float64, a)
+
 # END 0.7 deprecations
 
 # BEGIN 1.0 deprecations

base/parse.jl

@@ -236,10 +236,6 @@ function parse(::Type{T}, s::AbstractString) where T<:AbstractFloat
     return unsafe_get(result)
 end
 
-float(x::AbstractString) = parse(Float64,x)
-
-float(a::AbstractArray{<:AbstractString}) = map!(float, similar(a,typeof(float(0))), a)
-
 ## interface to parser ##
 
 """

test/perf/kernel/json.jl

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ function parse_json(strng::AbstractString)
         end
         delta = m.offset + length(m.match)
         pos = pos + delta -1
-        return float(m.match)
+        return parse(Float64, m.match)
     end
 
     function  parse_value()

test/strings/basic.jl

@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ let s = "x\u0302"
 end
 
 @testset "issue #9781" begin
-    # float(SubString) wasn't tolerant of trailing whitespace, which was different
+    # parse(Float64, SubString) wasn't tolerant of trailing whitespace, which was different
     # to "normal" strings. This also checks we aren't being too tolerant and allowing
     # any arbitrary trailing characters.
     @test parse(Float64,"1\n") == 1.0

test/strings/types.jl

@@ -138,9 +138,9 @@ end
 @test split(SubString("x", 2, 0), "y") == AbstractString[""]
 
 # issue #6772
-@test float(SubString("10",1,1)) === 1.0
-@test float(SubString("1 0",1,1)) === 1.0
-@test parse(Float32,SubString("10",1,1)) === 1.0f0
+@test parse(Float64, SubString("10",1,1)) === 1.0
+@test parse(Float64, SubString("1 0",1,1)) === 1.0
+@test parse(Float32, SubString("10",1,1)) === 1.0f0
 
 # issue #5870
 @test !ismatch(Regex("aa"), SubString("",1,0))