Senior Software Engineer
Ava writes about frontend architecture, React, and TypeScript. Previously built developer tools at scale-up startups.
Articles by Ava Chen
Big O Notation Without the Math Panic
A practical, jargon-light explanation of Big O notation — what it actually measures, the complexities you'll encounter daily, and how to reason about them without a CS degree.
The JavaScript Event Loop, Explained With Diagrams
How the call stack, task queue, and microtask queue actually interact — and why your setTimeout(fn, 0) doesn't run immediately.
Modern Array Methods You Should Be Using Instead of Loops
map, filter, reduce, find, some, and every cover the vast majority of loop use cases — and read more clearly once you know the patterns.
TypeScript Utility Types Cheat Sheet
Partial, Pick, Omit, Record, and the other built-in utility types explained with practical, real-world examples instead of abstract definitions.
How to Migrate a JavaScript Codebase to TypeScript Incrementally
A step-by-step approach to adopting TypeScript in an existing JavaScript project without a risky big-bang rewrite.
React useEffect Cleanup: A Practical Guide
When and why to return a cleanup function from useEffect, with real examples of the bugs it prevents — subscriptions, timers, and stale event listeners.
Next.js Middleware: What It's For and When to Avoid It
Middleware runs before every matching request — that makes it powerful for auth and redirects, and easy to misuse for things that belong in a page instead.
React Server Components Explained: What They Are and When to Use Them
A practical, no-hype breakdown of React Server Components — what problem they solve, how they differ from Client Components, and when you actually need them.
Core Web Vitals Explained: What Actually Affects Your Score
LCP, INP, and CLS explained in plain terms, with the specific, common causes of a bad score and how to fix each one.
A Practical Guide to Responsive Design in 2026
Modern CSS has made a lot of old responsive design workarounds obsolete — container queries, clamp(), and intrinsic sizing explained with real examples.
Getting Started with the Next.js App Router
A reference guide to the Next.js App Router: file conventions, layouts, and data fetching.