ref: 3b2fe3cd33b74166c3debec9826826f2b5a54fd9
dir: /docs/content/en/functions/first.md/
---
title: first
linktitle: first
description: "Slices an array to only the first _N_ elements."
godocref:
date: 2017-02-01
publishdate: 2017-02-01
lastmod: 2017-02-01
categories: [functions]
menu:
docs:
parent: "functions"
keywords: [iteration]
signature: ["first LIMIT COLLECTION"]
workson: [lists,taxonomies,terms,groups]
hugoversion:
relatedfuncs: [after,last]
deprecated: false
aliases: []
---
`first` works in a similar manner to the [`limit` keyword in
SQL][limitkeyword]. It reduces the array to only the `first N`
elements. It takes the array and number of elements as input.
`first` takes two arguments:
1. `number of elements`
2. `array` *or* `slice of maps or structs`
{{< code file="layout/_default/section.html" >}}
{{ range first 10 .Pages }}
{{ .Render "summary" }}
{{ end }}
{{< /code >}}
*Note: Exclusive to `first`, LIMIT can be '0' to return an empty array.*
## `first` and `where` Together
Using `first` and [`where`][wherefunction] together can be very
powerful. Below snippet gets a list of posts only from [**main
sections**][mainsections], sorts it by the `title` parameter, and then
ranges through only the first 5 posts in that list:
{{< code file="first-and-where-together.html" >}}
{{ range first 5 (where site.RegularPages "Type" "in" site.Params.mainSections).ByTitle }}
{{ .Content }}
{{ end }}
{{< /code >}}
[limitkeyword]: https://www.techonthenet.com/sql/select_limit.php
[wherefunction]: /functions/where/
[mainsections]: /functions/where/#mainsections