Optimize code for better performance and fix bugs in link checking and YAML processing

[Copilot]

Overview

This PR identifies and fixes slow or inefficient code in the repository, focusing on eliminating redundant operations in the link validation and front matter processing scripts.

Issues Fixed

1. Redundant Parsing in spec/amazon_link_check.rb

The Amazon link checker was repeatedly parsing URIs and CGI query parameters for every validation check, even when checking the same link multiple times:

# Before: Parsed on every call
def uri
  URI.parse(@link.href)
end

def params
  CGI.parse(uri.query) if uri.query
end

# After: Memoized to parse only once per link
def uri
  @uri ||= URI.parse(@link.href)
end

def params
  @params ||= CGI.parse(uri.query) if uri.query
end

Also fixed in this file:

• Typo in method name: afiiliate_id? → affiliate_id?
• Typo in error message: "Misssing" → "Missing"

2. Filesystem Overhead in script/lint-front-matter

The front matter linting script was processing files one at a time without pre-collecting data, mixing I/O operations with processing logic. Now it pre-collects all file data in one pass before processing.

3. Incorrect YAML API Usage in Rakefile

Fixed incorrect use of YAML.load_file() with a string argument (should be YAML.load()):

# Before: Wrong - parts[1] is a string, not a file path
yaml = YAML.load_file(parts[1], permitted_classes: [Psych, Symbol])

# After: Correct - use YAML.load for string input
yaml = YAML.load(parts[1], permitted_classes: [Psych, Symbol])

Performance Impact

• Link validation: Eliminates redundant URI and CGI parsing operations (1 parse per link instead of multiple)
• Front matter linting: Reduces filesystem traversal overhead through data pre-collection
• YAML processing: Prevents potential runtime errors from incorrect API usage

Testing

• ✅ All RSpec tests pass (414 examples, 0 failures)
• ✅ lint-front-matter script runs successfully
• ✅ RuboCop linting passes with no offenses
• ✅ All changes maintain backward compatibility

Additional Changes

Applied RuboCop auto-corrections for code style consistency (comment spacing, gem ordering, string quotes).

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• esm.ubuntu.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/lib/apt/methods/https (dns block)
• https://api.github.com/repos/benbalter/benbalter.github.com/pages
  • Triggering command: ruby3.2 /home/REDACTED/work/benbalter.github.com/benbalter.github.com/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.2.0/bin/jekyll build (http block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Original prompt

Identify and suggest improvements to slow or inefficient code

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