The scroll lock key was once useful for programming, but is now mostly obsolete due to navigation scrollbars. Other function keys like num lock and SysRq have also become outdated. Some keyboards still include a scroll lock key for nostalgic reasons.
Time has gone from the scroll lock key, making it the keyboard appendage of an IBM-PC computer. It once had a legitimate function: Since many monitors could only display 25 lines of text at a time, programming long strings of commands often became problematic. The scroll lock key allowed users to lock the current screen in place so that the cursor could be easily redirected. Without this feature, a programmer working on line 117 may have to manually go back to line two for a short fix. This was time consuming during a complex programming session.
The development of navigation scrollbars eventually rendered this key virtually useless. Some computer games still use it to allow players to access inventories or provide easier navigation across screens, and spreadsheet programs also use the feature as a form of placeholder: a user might want to visit a block of previous text without losing its current position, for example. For most other modern programming needs, navigation scroll bars and directional cursor arrows largely fill this need.
In an effort to keep up with consumer keyboard needs, IBM and others expanded the original keyboard to include arrow keys and a single-function number pad for calculations. This expansion also allowed for separate function keys such as number (or num) lock, scroll lock, caps lock, and SysRq. With the exception of the caps lock key, all of these functions have largely been relegated to history. The number lock key has basically been replaced by separate navigation and number entry keyboards. The SysRq key never had a function – it was created solely for a future function that never materialized.
Many computer keyboards don’t include a scroll lock key, although some do, perhaps for nostalgic purposes.
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