The JavaScript Array shift() Method removes the first element of the array thus reducing the size of the original array by 1.
Syntax:
arr.shift()
Parameters: This method does not accept any parameter.
Return value: This function returns the removed first element of the array. If the array is empty then this function returns undefined.
Note: This function can also be used with other javascript objects that behave like the array.
Below is an example of the Array shift() method.
Example 1: In this example, the shift() method removes the first string element of the array, therefore it returns GFG.
JavaScript
function func() {    // Original array    let array = ["GFG", "Geeks", "for", "Geeks"];Â
    // Checking for condition in array    let value = array.shift();Â
    console.log(value);    console.log(array);}Â
func(); |
Output:
GFG Geeks, for, Geeks
Example 2: In this example, the shift() method removes the first element of the array, therefore it returns 34.
JavaScript
function func() {Â
    // Original array    let array = [34, 234, 567, 4];Â
    // Checking for condition in array    let value = array.shift();Â
    console.log(value);    console.log(array);}func(); |
Output:
34 234,567,4
Example 3: In this example, the shift() method tries to remove the first element of the array, but the array is empty, therefore it returns undefined.
JavaScript
function func() {Â
    // Original array    let array = [];Â
    // Checking for condition in array    let value = array.shift();Â
    console.log(value);    console.log(array);}func(); |
Output:
undefined
We have a complete list of Javascript Array methods, to check those please go through this Javascript Array Complete reference article.
Supported Browsers: The browsers supported by the JavaScript Array shift() method are listed below:
- Google Chrome 1 and above
- Edge 12 and above
- Firefox 1 and above
- Internet Explorer 5.5 and above
- Opera 4 and above
- Safari 1 and above
We have a Cheat Sheet on Javascript where we covered all the important topics of Javascript to check those please go through Javascript Cheat Sheet-A Basic guide to JavaScript.
[…] Approach: The destructive approach modifies the original array using methods like push(), pop(), shift(), unshift(), etc. One example of the destructive approach is using the push() method, which adds one […]