Get and remove first element of an array in PHP

Question

Hi I am coding a system in which I need a function to get and remove the first element of the array. This array has numbers i.e.

0,1,2,3,4,5

how can I loop through this array and with each pass get the value and then remove that from the array so at the end of 5 rounds the array will be empty.

Thanks in advance

array_shift will do that, but do you really need to empty the array incrementally? — Jon
– Jon, Commented Jul 7, 2012 at 2:26
not a duplicate, i don't have the key to unset it, i am looping through. yes needs to be emptied incrementally. I looked at array_shift but couldn't tell weather it removes that array item after returning it... — André Figueira
– André Figueira, Commented Jul 7, 2012 at 2:33
As stated in the documentation @sachleen linked: "array_shift() shifts the first value of the array off and returns it, shortening the array by one element" — Chris Trahey
– Chris Trahey, Commented Jul 7, 2012 at 2:42

score 20 · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-11 21:04:58Z

20

You can use array_shift for this:

while (($num = array_shift($arr)) !== NULL) {
  // use $num
}

edited Sep 11, 2014 at 21:04

answered Jul 7, 2012 at 2:25

user142162

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Comments

Jens A. Koch · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-25 16:56:16Z

6

You might try using foreach/unset, instead of array_shift.

$array = array(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5);

foreach($array as $value)
{
    // with each pass get the value
    // use method to doSomethingWithValue($value);
    echo $value;
    // and then remove that from the array 
    unset($array[$value]);
}
//so at the end of 6 rounds the array will be empty
assert('empty($array) /* Array must be empty. */');
?>

edited Mar 25, 2014 at 16:56

answered Jul 7, 2012 at 9:01

Jens A. Koch

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1 Comment

mickmackusa Over a year ago

This answer works by happenstance (keys and values are identical) and is misleading to readers. It is not a reliable approach to use unset($array[$value]) in the wild.

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