Should I localize every table method?

[MalAllie]

I noticed that in a lot of modules, they localize (almost) every table method.

--Example from CanvasDraw

-- Micro optimisations
local TableInsert = table.insert
local TableFind = table.find
local RoundN = math.round
local Vector2New = Vector2.new
local CeilN = math.ceil

Should I do this to every table method? Is it faster this way? Are there some cases where it is slower?

[BusyCityGuy]

Maybe it used to be useful to avoid looking up the function in _ENV every time, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore with Luau. People did it as a micro optimization, but I do not recommend you pick up on that habit. It’s harder to read and doesn’t make any meaningful difference.

See this section about it on luau’s website: Performance - Luau

It’s always possible to “localize” the global accesses by using local max = math.max, but this is cumbersome - in practice it’s easy to forget to apply this optimization. To avoid relying on programmers remembering to do this, Luau implements a special optimization called “imports”, where most global chains such as math.max are resolved when the script is loaded instead of when the script is executed.

[Content_Corrupted019 (StifledSaucepan)]

No, localizing these won’t affect performance anymore. Many common builtin functions like your examples have been optimized by Luau’s fastcall mechanism, so doing table.insert(t, i) is identical to local insert = table.insert and insert(t, i) in terms of performance. Of course, for readability, the former would be preferable.

See: Performance - Luau