avoid unnecessary operations

Eliminate redundant work by implementing early returns, avoiding unnecessary clones/references, and skipping computations when results won’t be used. This fundamental optimization reduces CPU cycles and improves performance across hot code paths.

Key strategies:

• Use early returns to exit functions when conditions make further processing unnecessary
• Pass values by move instead of creating unnecessary references that require clones
• Check cheaper conditions first and return early when expensive operations can be skipped
• Avoid rendering or computing values that won’t be visible or used

Example from the codebase:

// Before: Unnecessary reference and potential clone
match (&event.payload, event.window_id.as_ref()) {

// After: Direct value usage, avoiding clone
match (event.payload, event.window_id.as_ref()) {

// Early return optimization
if self.frame().damage_all || selection == self.old_selection {
    return; // Skip expensive selection damage computation
}

This approach is particularly effective in rendering pipelines, event processing loops, and frequently called functions where small optimizations compound significantly.