Using array_shift over larger array was fairly slow.  It sped up as the array shrank, most likely as it has to reindex a smaller data set.

For my purpose, I used array_reverse, then array_pop, which doesn't need to reindex the array and will preserve keys if you want it to (didn't matter in my case).  

Using direct index references, i.e., array_test[$i], was fast, but direct index referencing + unset for destructive operations was about the same speed as array_reverse and array_pop.  It also requires sequential numeric keys.

Notice:
the complexity of array_pop() is O(1). 
the complexity of array_shift() is O(n).
array_shift() requires a re-index process on the array, so it has to run over all the elements and index them.

Just a useful version which returns a simple array with the first key and value. Porbably a better way of doing it, but it works for me ;-)

<?php

function array_kshift(&$arr)
{
  list($k) = array_keys($arr);
  $r  = array($k=>$arr[$k]);
  unset($arr[$k]);
  return $r;
}

// test it on a simple associative array
$arr = array('x'=>'ball','y'=>'hat','z'=>'apple');

print_r($arr);
print_r(array_kshift($arr));
print_r($arr);

?>

Output:

Array
(
    [x] => ball
    [y] => hat
    [z] => apple
)
Array
(
    [x] => ball
)
Array
(
    [y] => hat
    [z] => apple
)

<?php

//Be careful when using array_pop/shift/push/unshift with irregularly indexed arrays:

$shifty = $poppy = array(
  2 => '(2)',
  1 => '(1)',
  0 => '(0)',
);                         print_r( $shifty );

array_shift( $shifty );    print_r( $shifty );
//     [0] => (1)
//     [1] => (0)

array_pop( $poppy );       print_r( $poppy );
//     [2] => (2)
//     [1] => (1)

$shifty = $poppy = array(
  'a' => 'A',
  'b' => 'B',
  '(0)',
  '(1)',
  'c' => 'C',
  'd' => 'D',
);                                     print_r( $shifty );

array_shift( $shifty );                print_r( $shifty );
//     [b] => B
//     [0] => (0)
//     [1] => (1)
//     [c] => C
//     [d] => D

array_unshift( $shifty, 'unshifted');  print_r( $shifty );
//     [0] => unshifted
//     [b] => B
//     [1] => (0)
//     [2] => (1)
//     [c] => C
//     [d] => D

array_pop( $poppy );                   print_r( $poppy );
//     [a] => A
//     [b] => B
//     [0] => (0)
//     [1] => (1)
//     [c] => C

array_push( $poppy, 'pushed');         print_r( $poppy );
//     [a] => A
//     [b] => B
//     [0] => (0)
//     [1] => (1)
//     [c] => C
//     [2] => pushed

?>

As pointed out earlier, in PHP4, array_shift() modifies the input array by-reference, but it doesn't return the first element by reference.  This may seem like very unexpected behaviour.  If you're working with a collection of references (in my case XML Nodes) this should do the trick.

<?php

/**
 * This function exhibits the same behaviour is array_shift(), except
 * it returns a reference to the first element of the array instead of a copy.
 *
 * @param array &$array
 * @return mixed
 */
function &array_shift_reference(&$array)
{
  if (count($array) > 0)
  {
    $key = key($array);
    $first =& $array[$key];
  }
  else
  {
    $first = null;
  }
  array_shift($array);
  return $first;
}

class ArrayShiftReferenceTest extends UnitTestCase
{
    
  function testFunctionRemovesFirstElementOfNumericallyIndexedArray()
  {
    $input = array('foo', 'bar');
    array_shift_reference($input);
    $this->assertEqual(array('bar'), $input, '%s: The array should be shifted one element left');
  }

  function testFunctionRemovesFirstElementOfAssociativeArray()
  {
    $input = array('x' => 'foo', 'y' => 'bar');
    array_shift_reference($input);
    $this->assertEqual(array('y' => 'bar'), $input, '%s: The array should be shifted one element left');
  }

  function testFunctionReturnsReferenceToFirstElementOfNumericallyIndexedArray()
  {
    $foo = 'foo';
    $input = array(&$foo, 'bar');
    $first =& array_shift_reference($input);
    $this->assertReference($foo, $first, '%s: The return value should reference the first array element');
  }

  function testFunctionReturnsReferenceToFirstElementOfAssociativeArray()
  {
    $foo = 'foo';
    $input = array('x' => &$foo, 'y' => 'bar');
    $first =& array_shift_reference($input);
    $this->assertReference($foo, $first, '%s: The return value should reference the first array element');
  }

  function testFunctionReturnsNullIfEmptyArrayPassedAsInput()
  {
    $input = array();
    $first = array_shift_reference($input);
    $this->assertNull($first, '%s: Array has no first element so NULL should be returned');
  }

}

?>

To remove an element from the MIDDLE of an array (similar to array_shift, only instead of removing the first element, we want to remove an element in the middle, and shift all keys that follow down one position)

Note that this only works on enumerated arrays.

<?php
$array = array('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'e');
/*
array(6) {
  [0]=>
  string(1) "a"
  [1]=>
  string(1) "b"
  [2]=>
  string(1) "c"
  [3]=>
  string(1) "d"
  [4]=>
  string(1) "e"
  [5]=>
  string(1) "e"
}
*/

$indexToRemove = 2;
unset($array[$indexToRemove]);
$array = array_slice($array, 0);

/*
array(5) {
  [0]=>
  string(1) "a"
  [1]=>
  string(1) "b"
  [2]=>
  string(1) "d"
  [3]=>
  string(1) "e"
  [4]=>
  string(1) "e"
}
*/
?>

I hope this helps someone!

This removeAdd function, the first argument shift your array then unshif the second argument to your array. first argument is an array and second argument can be int or str.

<?php
function removeAdd ($arr, $newer){
    $a = array_shift($arr);
    $b = array_unshift($arr, $newer);
    foreach ($arr as $value){
        echo $value."<br />";
    }
}

$a = array(1,2,3,4,5,6);
foreach ($a as $current){
    echo $current."<br />";
}
echo "<hr />";
removeAdd($a, 0);
?>

OUTPUT:
1
2
3
4
5
6
_______

0
2
3
4
5
6

For those that may be trying to use array_shift() with an array containing references (e.g. working with linked node trees), beware that array_shift() may not work as you expect: it will return a *copy* of the first element of the array, and not the element itself, so your reference will be lost.

The solution is to reference the first element before removing it with array_shift():

<?php

// using only array_shift:
$a = 1;
$array = array(&$a);
$b =& array_shift($array);
$b = 2;
echo "a = $a, b = $b<br>"; // outputs a = 1, b = 2

// solution: referencing the first element first:
$a = 1;
$array = array(&$a);
$b =& $array[0];
array_shift($array);
$b = 2;
echo "a = $a, b = $b<br>"; // outputs a = 2, b = 2

?>

Here is a little function if you would like to get the top element and rotate the array afterwards.

function array_rotate(&$arr)
{
  $elm = array_shift($arr);
  array_push($arr, $elm);
  return $elm;
}

This function will save the key values of an array, and it will work in lower versions of PHP:

<?php

function array_shift2(&$array){
    reset($array);
    $key = key($array);
    $removed = $array[$key];
    unset($array[$key]);
    return $removed;
}

?>

<?php

//----------------------------------------------------------
// The combination of array_shift/array_unshift 
// greatly simplified a function I created for 
// generating relative paths. Before I found them 
// the algorithm was really squirrely, with multiple 
// if tests, length calculations, nested loops, etc. 
// Great functions.
//----------------------------------------------------------

function create_relative_path($inSourcePath, $inRefPath)
{
    // break strings at slashes
    $s_parts            = explode('/', $inSourcePath);
    $r_parts            = explode('/', $inRefPath);
    
    // delete items up to the first non-equal part
    while ($s_parts[0] === $r_parts[0])
    {
        array_shift($s_parts);
        array_shift($r_parts);
    }
    
    // add wild card to r_parts for each remaining 
    // item of s_parts
    while ($s_parts[0])
    {
        array_unshift($r_parts, '..');
        array_shift($s_parts);
    }
    
    return implode('/', $r_parts);
}

//----------------------------------------------------------
// Example:
//     Given a source path $sp generates the relative 
//     location of $rp. $sp could be assigned using 
//     $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] but it's hardcoded for 
//     the example.
//----------------------------------------------------------
$sp = '/WebServer/Documents/MyBigProject/php/project_script.php';
$rp = '/WebServer/Documents/MyLibraries/lib_script.php';

// plugging them into the function
$rel_path = create_relative_path($sp, $rp);

// yeilds
'../../../MyLibraries/lib_script.php'

// and it could be used like
include_once(create_relative_path($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], $rp));

A simple benchmark (PHP 8.1.9 + macOS 12.4)

<?php

ini_set('memory_limit', -1);

$times = 25_000;
$length = 256;
$arr = [];

$random = random_bytes(($times + $length) / 2);
$random = bin2hex($random);

// benchmark array_shift()
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $arr[$i] = substr($random, $i, $length);
}

$shiftTimer = -hrtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $value = array_shift($arr);
}
$shiftTimer += hrtime(true);

// benchmark array_reverse() + array_pop() + array_reverse()
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $arr[$i] = substr($random, $i, $length);
}

$reverseTimer = -hrtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $arr = array_reverse($arr);
    $value = array_pop($arr);
    $arr = array_reverse($arr);
}
$reverseTimer += hrtime(true);

// benchmark array_reverse() + array_pop()
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $arr[$i] = substr($random, $i, $length);
}

$popTimer = -hrtime(true);
$arr = array_reverse($arr);
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $value = array_pop($arr);
}
$popTimer += hrtime(true);

// benchmark $arr[key()]+ unset(key())
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $arr[$i] = substr($random, $i, $length);
}

$keyTimer = -hrtime(true);
reset($arr);
for ($i = 0; $i < $times; $i++) {
    $key = key($arr);
    $val = $arr[$key];
    unset($arr[$key]);
}
$keyTimer += hrtime(true);

print_r([
    'shift' => $shiftTimer / (10 ** 9),
    'reverse' => $reverseTimer / (10 ** 9),
    'pop' => $popTimer / (10 ** 9),
    'key' => $keyTimer / (10 ** 9),
]);

?>

Results interpretation:

On an array of 25,000 unique items, each item a string of 256 byte:

and key() + unset() is very fast.

array_shift() is ~400 times slower

array_reverse() + array_pop() + array_reverse() is ~5,000 times slower.

p.s. I'm implementing a queue, so I need to add another array_reverse() after array_pop() which makes it extremely slow inside a loop. array_reverse() + array_pop() has no use for me, I just added for sake of checking it's performance. It is as fast as key() + unset().

"$stack" in the example should be called "$queue".

// Ex. 1: signedShiftArray (['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'], 2)        ->        ['C', 'D', 'A', 'B']
// Ex. 2: signedShiftArray (['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'], -3)        ->        ['B', 'C', 'D', 'A']
// Ex. 3: signedShiftArray (['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'], -7)        ->        ['B', 'C', 'D', 'A']

function signedShiftArray ($aItems, $aOffset)

{
    if (empty ($aItems))
        return [];
    else if (empty ($aOffset))
        return $aItems;
    else {
        $t= count ($aItems);
        $n= $aOffset % $t;
        $m= $aOffset > 0 ? $n : $t + $aOffset;
        return array_merge (array_slice ($aItems, $n), array_slice ($aItems, 0, $m));
    }
}

// i wanted to remove first array inside to array
// but doesn't work for me : array_shift();

$cargo_file = 
Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Country
            [1] => CountryCode
            [2] => City
            [3] => CityOtherLanguage
            [4] => PostCode
            [5] => Days
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Turkey
            [1] => TR
            [2] => Istanbul
            [3] => Istanbul
            [4] => 34930
            [5] => 9
        )

)

$cargo_file = array_shift($cargo_file);

echo "<pre>";
print_r($cargo_file);
echo "</pre>";

// result after :

/*
Array
(
    [0] => Country
    [1] => CountryCode
    [2] => City
    [3] => CityOtherLanguage
    [4] => PostCode
    [5] => Days
)
*/

i developed a solution

function removeFirstArray($array){

    $new_array = [];
    foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
        if($key > 0){
            $new_array[] = $value;
        }   
    }

    return $new_array;
}

$cargo_file= removeFirstArray($cargo_file);

echo "<pre>";
print_r($cargo_file);
echo "</pre>";

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Turkey
            [1] => TR
            [2] => Istanbul
            [3] => Istanbul
            [4] => 34930
            [5] => 9
        )

)

Sometimes instead of shuffling array you just need to rotate it. We can easily rotate left an array with such code:
<?php
$arr[] = array_shift($arr);
?>

Assignment in line, does not remove the element.

$first = array_shift( $arr = array( 0 => '1st', 2 => '2nd', 3 => '3rd') );
print_r( $first );
print_r( $arr );

Output:
1st
Array
(
    [0] => 1st
    [2] => 2nd
    [3] => 3rd
)

Here's a utility function to parse command line arguments.

<?php
/**
 * CommandLine class
 *
 * @package             Framework
 */
/**
 * Command Line Interface (CLI) utility class.
 *
 * @author              Patrick Fisher <[email protected]>
 * @since               August 21, 2009
 * @package             Framework
 * @subpackage          Env
 */
class CommandLine {

    /**
     * PARSE ARGUMENTS
     * 
     * [pfisher ~]$ echo "<?php
     * >     include('CommandLine.php');
     * >     \$args = CommandLine::parseArgs(\$_SERVER['argv']);
     * >     echo "\n", '\$out = '; var_dump(\$args); echo "\n";
     * > ?>" > test.php
     * 
     * [pfisher ~]$ php test.php plain-arg --foo --bar=baz --funny="spam=eggs" --alsofunny=spam=eggs \
     * > 'plain arg 2' -abc -k=value "plain arg 3" --s="original" --s='overwrite' --s
     * 
     * $out = array(12) {
     *   [0]                => string(9) "plain-arg"
     *   ["foo"]            => bool(true)
     *   ["bar"]            => string(3) "baz"
     *   ["funny"]          => string(9) "spam=eggs"
     *   ["alsofunny"]      => string(9) "spam=eggs"
     *   [1]                => string(11) "plain arg 2"
     *   ["a"]              => bool(true)
     *   ["b"]              => bool(true)
     *   ["c"]              => bool(true)
     *   ["k"]              => string(5) "value"
     *   [2]                => string(11) "plain arg 3"
     *   ["s"]              => string(9) "overwrite"
     * }
     *
     * @author              Patrick Fisher <[email protected]>
     * @since               August 21, 2009
     * @see                 http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.php
     *                      #81042 function arguments($argv) by technorati at gmail dot com, 12-Feb-2008
     *                      #78651 function getArgs($args) by B Crawford, 22-Oct-2007
     * @usage               $args = CommandLine::parseArgs($_SERVER['argv']);
     */
    public static function parseArgs($argv){
    
        array_shift($argv);
        $out                            = array();
        
        foreach ($argv as $arg){
        
            // --foo --bar=baz
            if (substr($arg,0,2) == '--'){
                $eqPos                  = strpos($arg,'=');
                
                // --foo
                if ($eqPos === false){
                    $key                = substr($arg,2);
                    $value              = isset($out[$key]) ? $out[$key] : true;
                    $out[$key]          = $value;
                }
                // --bar=baz
                else {
                    $key                = substr($arg,2,$eqPos-2);
                    $value              = substr($arg,$eqPos+1);
                    $out[$key]          = $value;
                }
            }
            // -k=value -abc
            else if (substr($arg,0,1) == '-'){
            
                // -k=value
                if (substr($arg,2,1) == '='){
                    $key                = substr($arg,1,1);
                    $value              = substr($arg,3);
                    $out[$key]          = $value;
                }
                // -abc
                else {
                    $chars              = str_split(substr($arg,1));
                    foreach ($chars as $char){
                        $key            = $char;
                        $value          = isset($out[$key]) ? $out[$key] : true;
                        $out[$key]      = $value;
                    }
                }
            }
            // plain-arg
            else {
                $value                  = $arg;
                $out[]                  = $value;
            }
        }
        return $out;
    }
}
?>

// To Change order of Array by Saurabh Goyal
    function change_array_order($table,$order)
    {
       //init the new table
       $new_table = array();
       foreach($order as $colname)
       {
          $new_table[$colname] = $table[$colname];
       }
       return $new_table;
    }

if array value like:-
$row = array('usr_id'=>'23','usr_name'=>'Saurabh', 'usr_surname'=>'Goyal','usr_firstname'=>'Saurabh');

//you want change order & show only particular field
change_array_order($row,array('usr_name','usr_firstname',
                                            'usr_surname'));

Regard's

Saurabh Goyal
http://sggoyal.blogspot.com

baughmankr at appstate dot edu, I think this is more efficient.

<?php
function array_shorten($arr)
{
  list($k) = array_keys($arr);
  unset($arr[$k]);
  return $arr;
}
?>

I needed to remove the first set of keys and values from an associative array.  Had to write this function: 

function shortenArray($_arr)
{
    $i=1;
    $_shorter=array();
    foreach ($_arr as $k => $v)
    {
        if ($i != 1)
        {
            $_shorter[$k] = $v;
        }
        $i++;
    }
    return $_shorter;
}

If you want to loop through an array, removing its values one at a time using array_shift() but also want the key as well, try this. 

<?php

while($key = key($array))
{
     $value = array_shift($array);
     //code goes here
}

?>

its like foreach but each time the value is removed from the array so it eventually ends up empty

<?php

//example below

$airports = array
(
    "LGW" => "London Gatwick",
    "LHR" => "London Heathrow",
    "STN" => "London Stanstead"
);

echo count($airports)." Airport in the array<br /><br />";

while($key = key($airports))
{
    $value = array_shift($airports);
    echo $key." is ".$value."<br />";
}

echo "<br />".count($airports)." Airport left in the array";

?>

Example Outputs:

3 Airport in the array

LGW is London Gatwick
LHR is London Heathrow
STN is London Stanstead

0 Airport left in the array

Im using this function to browse arrays from database. For example data:
<?php
$data = array(
      array('row 1-cell 1','row 1-cell 2'),
      array('row 2-cell 1','row 2-cell 2'),
      array('row 3-cell 1','row 3-cell 2'),
);

while($row=array_shift($data)) {
      echo $row[0];
}
?>
Output:
row 1-cell 1
row 2-cell 1
row 3-cell 1

while(array_shift()) can be used to process multiple arrays and/or database results in a single loop. The || short circuts and only evaluates the first statement until it runs out of data.

It can help to reduce duplicated code (the rule is code once and once only).

Note that each ($row = ) statement much be encased in ()'s otherwise you will get funny results. If you use two array_shift($array) statements and forget the ()'s, you will repeatedly get the first element of the first array for the for the count of the $array.

<?php

require_once('class.db.php');

$sql = "SELECT title FROM links";
$result = mysql_query($sql, $db->connection);

$defaults = array(
     array('title' => 'None'), 
     array('title' => 'Unknown')
);

while ( ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) 
     || ($row = array_shift($defaults))) 
{
  echo $row['title'] . "<br>";
}

?>

This will print out (depending on database contents):
Title1
Title2
Title3
...
None
Unknown

I haven't really read into it, but if you're complaining about a change in PHP 5.0.5 that made it so you couldn't do:

<?php

$val = array_shift(preg_split());

?>

or

<?php

$val = array_shit(function_that_returns_array);

?>

Then you're not using this function correctly. This function's argument is supposed to be a pointer to a variable. It then modifies that variable and returns a value. When you specify a function, php CAN NOT modify the return value of that function. It should be common sense but apparently its not.

Also, on a efficiency note, you might want to consider using another function such as reset or perhaps making your own function such as below:

<?php

function first_element($array) {

return reset($array);

}

?>

Unless of course for some reason you need to save the microseconds this takes.

}

If you need the first or last entry of an array, then this could help you.

<?php
function array_last_entry($arr){
    if(!is_array($arr))
        return;
    
    if(empty($arr))
        return;
        
    return end($arr);
}

function array_first_entry($arr){
    if(!is_array($arr))
        return;
        
    if(empty($arr))
        return;
        
    reset($arr);
    return current($arr);    
}

$arr = array( '5' => 'five', '3' => 'three', '8' => 'eight',);

echo 'last entry: '.array_last_entry($arr).'<br>';

echo 'first entry: '.array_first_entry($arr).'<br>';

echo 'alternative output:<br>';
 
echo 'last entry: '.$arr[count($arr)-1];

echo '<br>first entry: '.$arr[0]; 
?>

The output will look like:
last entry: eight
first entry: five
alternative output:
last entry:
first entry: 

As you can see, if you have to handle arrays with non-continuous indexes, these functions may be very helpful.

no, it demonstrates quite well that it removes the first element in the original array, updating the keys, and that it also returns the original first element.

If the array has non-numerical keys, array_shift extracts the first element, whichever is the key, and recompute the numerical keys, if there are any. Ie :

$array = array("c" => "ccc", 0 => "aaa", "d" => "ddd", 5 => "bbb");
$first = array_shift($array);
echo '$first = ' . $first . ', $array = ' . var_export($array, true);

will display :

$first = ccc, $array = array ( 0 => 'aaa', 'd' => 'ddd', 1 => 'bbb', )

It means that array_shift works with associative arrays too, and leaves the keys unchanged if they are non-numerical.

If you want a version of array_shift() that works non-destructively (i.e., an easy function to grab the first element of the array without modifying the array), try reset().