How to Get all Elements Except First in JavaScript Array?

Here are the various methods to get all elements except the first in JavaScript Array

1. Using for loop

We will use a for loop to grab all the elements except the first. We know that in an array the first element is present at index '0'.

const a1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
const a2 = [];
let k = 0;

for (let i = 1; i < a1.length; i++) {
    a2[k] = a1[i];
    k++;
}

console.log(a2);

[ 2, 3, 4, 5 ]

In this example

• The code initializes an empty array find and a variable k for indexing.
• A for loop starts from the second element (i = 1) of the original array.
• Elements from the second position onward are copied to the find array.
• The result is printed without using a separate function.

2. Using slice() Method

The slice() is a method that returns a slice of an array. It takes two arguments, the start and end index.

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
const res = a.slice(1);

console.log(res);

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The slice method is directly applied to the array a, starting from the second element (index 1).
• The result is stored in the result variable and printed, avoiding the use of a separate function.

3. Using Array.filter method

The Array.filter() method is used to create a new array with elements from the existing array which satisfies the condition.

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
console.log(a.filter((x, y) => 
	y != 0));

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The code uses the filter method to create a new array, excluding the element at index 0 (the first element) by checking if the index (y) is not equal to 0.

4. JavaScript Array.reduce() Method

The Array.reduce() is used to perform the function on each element of an array and form a single element. 

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
console.log(a.reduce((a, x, i) => 
	(i == 0) ? a : a.concat(x), []));

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The code uses reduce to accumulate a new array, starting with an empty array, and skips the first element (index 0) by checking if the index is not equal to 0 before concatenating the remaining elements.

5. Using shift() Method

The JavaScript Array shift() Method removes the first element of the array thus reducing the size of the original array by 1.

let a = [34, 234, 567, 4];
a.shift();
console.log(a);

[ 234, 567, 4 ]

In this example

• The code uses shift to remove the first element from the array, and then logs the modified array, which no longer includes the first element.

6. Using Array.from() Method

The Array.from() method creates a new array instance from an array-like or iterable object.

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
console.log(Array.from(a).slice(1));

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The Array.from method creates a shallow copy of the array, and slice(1) removes the first element, resulting in [20, 30, 40, 50].

7. Using splice() Method

The splice() method can be used to change the contents of an array by removing or replacing existing elements and/or adding new elements in place

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];

let res = a.slice();
res.splice(0, 1);
console.log(res);

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The slice() creates a shallow copy of the array, and splice(0, 1) removes the first element from the copied array, resulting in [20, 30, 40, 50].

8. Using Array.prototype.flatMap()

The flatMap() method can be used creatively to ignore the first element of an array by mapping the array to a sub-array that excludes the first element and then flattening the result.

const a = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
const res = a.flatMap((_, index) => 
	index === 0 ? [] : [a[index]]);
console.log(res);

[ 20, 30, 40, 50 ]

In this example

• The flatMap method creates a new array by skipping the first element (index 0) and adding the remaining elements, resulting in [20, 30, 40, 50].