Deleting Items from a JavaScript Array

In this article, we will discuss how we can delete or remove items from the start, middle, and end of a JavaScript Array.

Taking an Array

First, let's take an array name fruits.

var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];

Now we will see different approach of removing/deleting items from this array.

Removing item from Beginning

To remove an item from the beginning of an array, you can use the shift() method, which removes the first element of the array and returns it. For example:

var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];

// Remove the first item from the array
var first = fruits.shift();

// The array now contains ["Orange", "Apple", "Mango"]
// The variable "first" contains the removed element: "Banana"

Removing Item from the Middle

To remove an item from the middle of an array, you can use the splice() method, which allows you to specify the index at which to begin removing elements and the number of elements to remove. For example:

var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];

// Remove the second item (index 1) from the array
var removed = fruits.splice(1, 1);

// The array now contains ["Banana", "Apple", "Mango"]
// The variable "removed" contains the removed element: "Orange"

Removing Item from the End

To remove an item from the end of an array, you can use the pop() method, which removes the last element of the array and returns it. For example:

var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];

// Remove the last item from the array
var last = fruits.pop();

// The array now contains ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple"]
// The variable "last" contains the removed element: "Mango"

You can also use the slice() method to remove items from an array without modifying the original array. This method allows you to specify a range of elements to include in a new array. For example:

var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];

// Create a new array with the second and third items of the original array
var removed = fruits.slice(1, 3);

// The original array remains unchanged: ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"]
// The new array contains the removed elements: ["Orange", "Apple"]

Note

It's important to note that the splice(), shift(), and pop() methods modify the original array, whereas the slice() method creates a new array. This means you need to use a different approach depending on whether you want to modify the original array or create a new one.

Thanks for reading this article. We will discuss another topic in another article.