Reduced String Copies and AI

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.

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. I had repeated string replace calls, and to normalize the name parameter 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. In 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. It 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.