Remove first and last element from an array in PHP

In this post, we will see how to remove the first element from an array and return its value in PHP.

1. Removing last element using `array_pop()` function

The standard solution to remove the last element from an array is using the array_pop() function which return the value of the removed element. The time complexity of array_pop() is constant.

The following code pops the element off the end of the array using the array_slice() function, shortening the array by one element.

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

$last = array_pop($arr);

print_r("The last item is " . $last . "\n");

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

The last item is 5

Array

(

[0] => 1

[1] => 2

[2] => 3

[3] => 4

)

Download Run Code

For associative arrays:

<?php

$arr = array("Nick"=>"20", "John"=>"10", "Paul"=>"18");

$last = array_pop($arr);

print_r("The value of the last item is " . $last . "\n");

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

The value of the last item is 18

Array

(

[Nick] => 20

[John] => 10

)

Download Run Code

2. Removing first element using `array_shift()` function

If you need to remove the first element from an array, you can use the array_shift() function which deletes and return the first element in the array. The time complexity of array_shift() is linear since it has to run over all the elements in order to re-index them.

The following code shifts an element off the beginning of the array using the array_slice() function, shortening the array by one element.

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

$first = array_shift($arr);

print_r("The first item is " . $first . "\n");

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

The first item is 1

Array

(

[0] => 2

[1] => 3

[2] => 4

[3] => 5

)

Download Run Code

For associative arrays:

<?php

$arr = array("Nick"=>"20", "John"=>"10", "Paul"=>"18");

$first = array_shift($arr);

print_r("The value of the first item is " . $first . "\n");

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

The value of the first item is 20

Array

(

[John] => 10

[Paul] => 18

)

Download Run Code

That’s all about removing the first and last element from an array in PHP.

Remove first and last element from an array in PHP

1. Removing last element using array_pop() function

2. Removing first element using array_shift() function

Share this:

1. Removing last element using `array_pop()` function

2. Removing first element using `array_shift()` function