Equal values , different outputs ? array.shift()

izzypt · August 16, 2020, 8:30pm

Hello everyone,

So , this should be a very simple question.

I have set this variable named ShortGroceryList = groceryList.shift(). I was expecting the same value to be the output when I log both in different console.log statement but that’s not what happens,

gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/codecademydev/7dafe01dcddaf316f3ce7a48701c9a71

main.js

const groceryList = ['orange juice', 'bananas', 'coffee beans', 'brown rice', 'pasta', 'coconut oil', 'plantains'];

let ShortgroceryList = groceryList.shift()

console.log(ShortgroceryList)

console.log(groceryList.shift())

The output on the screen goes like this :

orange juice when I log => console.log(ShortgroceryList)

and

bananas when I log =>console.log(groceryList.shift())

stetim94 · August 16, 2020, 9:56pm

why do you expect the same output? Each time you call shift, the first element is removed from the array. you call .shift() twice.

victoria_dr · August 16, 2020, 9:56pm

Remember that .shift() removes the first element of an array.

Welcome to the forums!

izzypt · August 16, 2020, 8:41pm

Hey ! Thank you for the quick response guys .

I see , so that means this method cuts a piece of the array each time I call him , right ?

If i call it 3 times he will cut off the first 3 elements of the array . Correct?

stetim94 · August 16, 2020, 8:42pm

yes

If the working of a method or function is unclear, there is always documentation. For JS, MDN is good, so if i google:

javascript shift

i get:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/shift

as first search result. Which includes explanation and example.