:sig
String first(String... args)

:params
args : a variable number of String arguments
return value : first of the 'args' that was not empty.

:desc
Given a variable number of String parameters, the first() function returns the first of these parameters that was not empty. Leading and trailing whitespace characters are not considered, resulting in a string that contains only whitespace characters being considered empty.

:see
>string

:related
**PHP:** Null-coalescing patterns like `$a ?? $b`, fallback helpers, or `reset()` for arrays
**JavaScript / Node.js:** `??`, `||`, and small fallback helper functions