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().