Removing elements from arrays

Learn to remove elements from the end and start of an array with pop and shift.

Removing from the end with pop

The pop method removes the last element of the array and returns that element. The array shrinks.

Example: with const fruits = ["apple", "pear", "banana"];, calling fruits.pop(); returns "banana" and leaves ["apple", "pear"].

To keep the removed element, assign the return value: const last = fruits.pop();.

Removing from the start with shift

The shift method removes the first element of the array and returns it. The other elements shift one index toward the start.

Example: with const colors = ["red", "blue", "green"];, calling colors.shift(); returns "red" and leaves ["blue", "green"].

Calling shift or pop on an empty array returns undefined; no error is thrown.

Exercise Remove elements from the queue array

Create an array named queue with three strings. First remove the first element with shift, then remove the last element with pop. Finally print the array length with console.log.

Show example solution

Define a queue array with three strings, remove from start and end, then print the length.
Example solution:
const queue = ["a", "b", "c"];
queue.shift();
queue.pop();
console.log(queue.length);

Test yourself

Which describes the behavior of the shift method?
- removes from start
- removes from end
- appends to end
- prepends to start
Show answer

removes from start — Correct. shift removes the first element of the array.

Remove and store the last element from the stack array

const stack = ["a", "b", "c"];
const last = stack.____;
console.log(last);

Show answer

const stack = ["a", "b", "c"];
const last = stack.pop();
console.log(last);

Match the removal methods

pop

removes the last element
shift

removes the first element
pop()

returns the removed element

Next lesson: length and index relationship

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