Get the First and Last Elements of an Array in JavaScript

Get the First and Last Elements of an Array #

To get the first and last elements of an array, access the array at index 0 and the last index. For example, arr[0] returns the first element, whereas arr[arr.length - 1] returns the last element of the array.

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const arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

const first = arr[0];
console.log(first); // 👉️ a

const last = arr[arr.length - 1];
console.log(last); // 👉️ d

To get the index of the last element, we subtract 1 from the array's length, because the first element in the array has an index of 0.

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const arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

const last = arr[arr.length - 1];
console.log(last); // 👉️ d

If you had to get the second last element of an array, you would subtract 2 from the array's length.

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const arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

const last = arr[arr.length - 2];
console.log(last); // 👉️ c

Trying to access an array element at an index that doesn't exist doesn't throw an error, it returns undefined.

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const arr = [];

const first = arr[0];
console.log(first); // 👉️ undefined

const last = arr[arr.length - 1];
console.log(last); // 👉️ undefined

Alternatively, you can use the Array.at() method.

Get the First and Last Elements of an Array using Array.at() #

Use the Array.at() method to get the first and last elements of an array. For example, arr.at(0) returns the first element and arr.at(-1) returns the last array element.

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const arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

const first = arr.at(0);
console.log(first); // 👉️ a

const last = arr.at(-1);
console.log(last); // 👉️ d

We used the Array.at method to get the first and last elements in an array.

The method supports negative integers to count backwards. For example, -1 returns the last element in the array and -2 returns the second last element.

The Array.at() method returns the element at the specified index or -1 if the index is out of range.

Further Reading #

• Get the first N elements from an Array in JavaScript
• Get the last N elements from an Array in JavaScript
• Filter an Array with Multiple Conditions in JavaScript
• Remove the first N elements from an Array in JavaScript
• Remove the last N Elements from an Array in JavaScript
• Remove Duplicates from an Array in JavaScript
• How to Remove Element(s) from an Array in JavaScript