Using PHP array_shift() to Remove the First Element from an Array

PHP is a widely used scripting language especially suited for web development, and it provides many powerful array functions, one of which is array_shift(). This function removes and returns the first element of an array while updating the original array’s keys.

The syntax of array_shift() is: mixed array_shift ( array &$array ) In the following example, $fruits is an indexed array. After calling array_shift($fruits), the first fruit "apple" is stored in $firstFruit and the remaining elements are re‑indexed.

$fruits = array("apple", "banana", "orange", "grape");
$firstFruit = array_shift($fruits);

echo "第一个水果是：".$firstFruit."<br>";
echo "剩余的水果有：";
print_r($fruits);

Output:

第一个水果是：apple
剩余的水果有：Array ( [0] => banana [1] => orange [2] => grape )

The function also works with associative arrays. In the next example, $person is an associative array; array_shift($person) returns the value of the first key‑value pair ("John") and removes that pair from the array.

$person = array("name" => "John", "age" => 25, "gender" => "male");
$firstProperty = array_shift($person);

echo "第一个属性是：".$firstProperty."<br>";
echo "剩余的属性有：";
print_r($person);

Output:

第一个属性是：John
剩余的属性有：Array ( [age] => 25 [gender] => male )

In both cases, array_shift() not only returns the first element’s value but also updates the original array, causing its indexes to be re‑ordered starting from zero.

Overall, array_shift() is a very useful PHP array function for efficiently removing the first element of an array, whether it is a simple indexed array or an associative array.