# array_shift

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

array_shift — Shift an element off the beginning of array

### Description

mixed array_shift ( array `&$array` )

array_shift() shifts the first value of the `array` off and returns it, shortening the `array` by one element and moving everything down. All numerical array keys will be modified to start counting from zero while literal keys won't be touched. If `array` is empty (or is not an array), `NULL` will be returned.

> Note: This function will reset() the array pointer after use.

Example#1 array_shift() example

`<?php
$stack = array("orange", "banana", "apple", "raspberry");
$fruit = array_shift($stack);
print_r($stack);
?>`

This would result in $stack having 3 elements left:

    Array
    (
        [0] => banana
        [1] => apple
        [2] => raspberry
    )

and orange will be assigned to $fruit.

See also array_unshift(), array_push(), and array_pop().