Wordpress getting first post - php

Question

I am trying to change the class if $firstPost = 0but i'm not sure 100% about the while loop etc as I have an idea I don't need it
PHP/HTML
<?php
$getPosts = new wp_query(array('showposts' => 5, 'orderby' => 1));
if($getPosts->have_posts()):
$firstPost = 0;
while($getPosts->have_posts()):
$getPosts->the_post();
$cssClass = '';
if($firstPost == 0)
{
$cssClass = array('article','first-post');
}else{
$cssClass = array('article');
}
?>
<article <?php post_class($cssClass); ?> id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article">
<?php if ( is_front_page() && is_home() ): ?>
<div class="post-thumbnail">
<?php if ( get_the_post_thumbnail($post_id) != '' ) { ?>
<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<img src="<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>" alt="" />
<?php } ?>
</div>
<article class="post-content">
<header class="post-header">
<div class="post-category"><?php the_category( ', ' ) ?></div>
<h2 class="post-title" itemprop="name"><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
<div class="post-date"><?php echo get_the_date( 'F j, Y' ) ?>.</div>
<div class="post-comment"><?php comments_popup_link( __( '0 comments','adelle-theme' ), __( '1 Comment','adelle-theme' ), __( '% Comments','adelle-theme' ) ); ?></div>
</header>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<footer class="post-footer"></footer><!-- .post-footer -->
</article><!-- .post-content -->
<?php endif; ?>
</article><!-- .article -->

Answer 1

It's better to use a boolean value for $firstPost. For example:
<?php
$getPosts = new WP_Query(array('showposts' => 5, 'orderby' => 1));
if($getPosts->have_posts()):
$firstPost = true;
while($getPosts->have_posts()):
$getPosts->the_post();
$cssClass = '';
if($firstPost)
{
$cssClass = array('article','first-post');
}else{
$cssClass = array('article');
}
?>
<article <?php post_class($cssClass); ?> id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article">
<?php if ( is_front_page() && is_home() ): ?>
<div class="post-thumbnail">
<?php if ( get_the_post_thumbnail($post_id) != '' ) { ?>
<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<img src="<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>" alt="" />
<?php } ?>
</div>
<article class="post-content">
<header class="post-header">
<div class="post-category"><?php the_category( ', ' ) ?></div>
<h2 class="post-title" itemprop="name"><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
<div class="post-date"><?php echo get_the_date( 'F j, Y' ) ?>.</div>
<div class="post-comment"><?php comments_popup_link( __( '0 comments','adelle-theme' ), __( '1 Comment','adelle-theme' ), __( '% Comments','adelle-theme' ) ); ?></div>
</header>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<footer class="post-footer"></footer><!-- .post-footer -->
</article><!-- .post-content -->
<?php endif; ?>
</article><!-- .article -->
<?php
$firstPost = false;
endwhile;
endif;
?>