Removing the First Element
The shift() method can be used to remove the first element of the array.
Return value : The element that was removed.
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
var removed = arr.shift();
// [2, 3, 4, 5]
console.log(arr);
// 1
console.log(removed);
Removing the Last Element
The pop() method removes the last element of the array.
Return value : The element that was removed.
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
var removed = arr.pop();
// [1, 2, 3, 4]
console.log(arr);
// 5
console.log(removed);
Removing Element from a Given Position
To remove an element from any given position, the splice() method can be used. The splice() modifies an array — it can add new elements or delete elements. In this case we will focus on deleting elements.
You need to pass 2 parameters to splice() :
First parameter represents the position from where we want to start deleting elements. Position works like the index of the array, however negative values are also allowed.
With a negative value, the starting position is set from the end position of the array. For example -1 would mean to delete elements starting from the last position. -2 would mean to delete elements starting from the second-last position.
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The second parameter represents how many elements are to be deleted, starting from the given position.
Return value : An array of all elements that were deleted.
Example 1 - Remove 3 elements starting from the second element :
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var removed = arr.splice(1, 3);
// [1, 5, 6]
console.log(arr);
// [2, 3, 4]
console.log(removed);
Example 2 - Remove the first element :
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var removed = arr.splice(0, 1);
// [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
console.log(arr);
// [1]
console.log(removed);
Example 3 - Remove the last element :
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var removed = arr.splice(-1, 1);
// [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
console.log(arr);
// [6]
console.log(removed);
Example 4 - Remove the last 2 elements :
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var removed = arr.splice(-2, 2);
// [1, 2, 3, 4]
console.log(arr);
// [5, 6]
console.log(removed);