Remove the first element from an array in PHP

Learn, how to remove the first element from an array in PHP.

To remove the first element from an array, we can use the built-in array_shift() function in PHP.

Here is an example, that removes the first element apples from the following array

<?php
$food = array("apples", "cake", "cheese", "popcorn");
$firstElement = array_shift($food);
print_r($food);

?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => cake
    [1] => cheese
    [2] => popcorn
)

The array_shift() function modifies the original array.

If you want to preserve the original array and still remove the first element, then you can use the array_slice() function.

The array_slice() function creates the new array instead of modifying the original array.

<?php
$food = array("apples", "cake", "cheese", "popcorn");
$removedFirst = array_slice($food, 1);
print_r($removedFirst)

?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => cake
    [1] => cheese
    [2] => popcorn
)