What is the best way to remove the first element from an array?

The size of arrays in Java cannot be changed. So, technically you cannot remove any elements from the array.

One way to simulate removing an element from the array is to create a new, smaller array, and then copy all of the elements from the original array into the new, smaller array.

String[] yourArray = Arrays.copyOfRange(oldArr, 1, oldArr.length);

However, I would not suggest the above method. You should really be using a List<String>. Lists allow you to add and remove items from any index. That would look similar to the following:

List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(); // or LinkedList<String>();
list.add("Stuff");
// add lots of stuff
list.remove(0); // removes the first item