{"slug": "reduced-string-copies-and-ai", "title": "Reduced String Copies and AI", "summary": "A developer used Microsoft Copilot to optimize a Rust function that normalizes arguments for AI tool calls, reducing repeated string copies from five or more passes to fewer copies. The optimization eliminated multiple copies of strings in always-run paths, though the developer noted the performance impact was minimal since it runs only once per call. The developer expressed uncertainty about whether AI-assisted programming is good or bad but acknowledged that strings are now copied less.", "body_md": "In my **Rust program** I have code that tries to **normalize** the arguments passed into it. The idea is that if an AI calls my function, I want the function call to **succeed** even if it **makes a mistake** in the syntax.\n\nI had repeated string `replace`\n\ncalls, and to normalize the `name`\n\nparameter about 5 passes were done, and 5 copies or more were made of the string. This is not a big performance issue, as it is **only done once** per tool call.\n\nIn former times, I would have **written my own** zero-copy functions to improve **performance**. Today I used an online AI (Microsoft Copilot) and prompted it to \"optimize this Rust function\" along with some pasted text.\n\nIt did pretty well. I **eliminated multiple copies** of strings in always-run paths in my program. It seems **programming** has **changed a lot** these days—instead of writing one's own functions, one has them written based on a prompt. I don't know if this is good or bad, but my strings are copied less now.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reduced-string-copies-and-ai", "canonical_source": "https://www.dotnetperls.com/2026_8_6_reduced-string-copies-ai", "published_at": "2026-08-06 07:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-09 12:54:32.347475+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools"], "entities": ["Microsoft Copilot", "Rust"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reduced-string-copies-and-ai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reduced-string-copies-and-ai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reduced-string-copies-and-ai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/reduced-string-copies-and-ai.jsonld"}}