=over

=item shift ARRAY
X<shift>

=item shift EXPR

=item shift

Shifts the first value of the array off and returns it, shortening the
array by 1 and moving everything down.  If there are no elements in the
array, returns the undefined value.  If ARRAY is omitted, shifts the
C<@_> array within the lexical scope of subroutines and formats, and the
C<@ARGV> array outside a subroutine and also within the lexical scopes
established by the C<eval STRING>, C<BEGIN {}>, C<INIT {}>, C<CHECK {}>,
C<UNITCHECK {}>, and C<END {}> constructs.

Starting with Perl 5.14, C<shift> can take a scalar EXPR, which must hold a
reference to an unblessed array.  The argument will be dereferenced
automatically.  This aspect of C<shift> is considered highly experimental.
The exact behaviour may change in a future version of Perl.

To avoid confusing would-be users of your code who are running earlier
versions of Perl with mysterious syntax errors, put this sort of thing at
the top of your file to signal that your code will work I<only> on Perls of
a recent vintage:

    use 5.014;	# so push/pop/etc work on scalars (experimental)

See also C<unshift>, C<push>, and C<pop>.  C<shift> and C<unshift> do the
same thing to the left end of an array that C<pop> and C<push> do to the
right end.

=back