Dr. Dr. Derek Austin, Ph.D.

Front End Developer at Self-Employed

Expertise: JavaScript, React, Node.js, SEO and web-performance.

Education: Virginia Commonwealth University

Dr. Derek Austin is a front end developer with more than 20 years of web developer experience. Austin specializes in improving the performance of Next.js/React apps. He has previously held contract developer roles for Propel Data Cloud, Hilton and Loop. Austin is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a master’s and bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics and a doctorate in physical therapy.   

6 Articles

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Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on September 02, 2025

Big O vs. Big Theta vs. Big Omega Notation Differences Explained

Big O, Big Theta and Big Omega notations express an algorithm’s time and space complexity. Discover what each one is and what the differences between them are.

Expert Contributors
Software Engineering Perspectives
Data Science
Image: Shutterstock / Built In
Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on July 17, 2025

JavaScript Question Mark (?) Operator Explained

The question mark operator is used in JavaScript as an alternative to an if statement, especially where a value is assigned based on a conditional.

Expert Contributors
Javascript
Software Engineering
Image: Shutterstock / Built In
Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on August 04, 2025

How to Check for Null in JavaScript

Null represents an intentional absence of a value, indicating a variable has been declared but has yet to be assigned a value. These are some of the most common methods for checking for null and values loosely equal to null in JavaScript.

Expert Contributors
Software Engineering
Software Engineering Perspectives
Images: Shutterstock / Built In
Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on October 29, 2024

How to Make JavaScript Sleep or Wait

JavaScript doesn’t have a dedicated sleep() function that causes the code to wait before resuming execution. Here's how to write a JavaScript sleep function using setTimeout().

Expert Contributors
Javascript Algorithms
Javascript
Image: Shutterstock / Built In
Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on June 17, 2025

How to Use JSON.stringify() and JSON.parse() in JavaScript

JSON.stringify() and JSON.parse() are useful tools for handling JSON-formatted content in JavaScript, though they have some limitations. Here's how to use them.

Expert Contributors
Javascript
Software Engineering Perspectives
Image: Shutterstock / Built In
Dr. Derek Austin Dr. Derek Austin
Updated on May 22, 2025

How to Check Data Types in JavaScript Using Typeof

The typeof operator in JavaScript is used to check the data type of a variable in code. It can determine if a variable's data type is an array, boolean or other.

Expert Contributors
Software Engineering Perspectives
Image: Shutterstock / Built In