# shift > Remove and return the first element of a collection.
## Usage ```javascript var shift = require( '@stdlib/utils/shift' ); ``` #### shift( collection ) Removes and returns the first element of a `collection`. A `collection` may be either an [`Array`][mdn-array], [`Typed Array`][mdn-typed-array], or an array-like [`Object`][mdn-object] (i.e., an [`Object`][mdn-object] having a valid writable `length` property). ```javascript var arr = [ 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 ]; var out = shift( arr ); // returns [ [ 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 ], 1.0 ] var bool = ( out[ 0 ] === arr ); // returns true var lastValue = out[ 1 ]; // returns 1.0 ``` In contrast to [`Array.prototype.shift`][mdn-array-shift] which returns only the removed element, the function also returns the shortened collection. For [typed arrays][mdn-typed-array] having a length greater than `0`, the returned collection is a new [typed array][mdn-typed-array] view. ```javascript var Float64Array = require( '@stdlib/array/float64' ); var arr = new Float64Array( 2 ); arr[ 0 ] = 1.0; arr[ 1 ] = 2.0; var out = shift( arr ); // returns [ [ 2.0 ], 1.0 ] var bool = ( out[ 0 ] === arr ); // returns false bool = ( out[ 0 ].buffer === arr.buffer ); // returns true var lastValue = out[ 1 ]; // returns 1.0 ```
## Notes - When provided a [typed array][mdn-typed-array], the function does **not** change the underlying [`ArrayBuffer`][mdn-arraybuffer]. The function returns a new [typed array][mdn-typed-array] view whose length is one less than the input [typed array][mdn-typed-array] length. Accordingly, the function does **not** reduce the memory footprint of an input [typed array][mdn-typed-array].
## Examples ```javascript var Float64Array = require( '@stdlib/array/float64' ); var shift = require( '@stdlib/utils/shift' ); var arr; var out; var i; arr = new Float64Array( 100 ); for ( i = 0; i < 100; i++ ) { out = shift( arr ); arr = out[ 0 ]; console.log( 'Length: %d', arr.length ); } console.log( arr ); ```