From be6d5c36fc5716c807cc5ff222c87fe00d4f5713 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Glint Dev <dev@glint.local>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:35:12 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix: eliminate deep Element cloning in @if by using
 &[&Element] references

---
 src/app.rs             |  3 ++-
 src/interpreter/mod.rs | 23 ++++++++++++++---------
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index b0f600f..1fe54ee 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -55,8 +55,9 @@ impl GlintApp {
         }
 
         let dirty_set = self.doc.tracker.take_dirty_set();
+        let root_refs: Vec<&Element<'static>> = self.doc.roots.iter().collect();
         self.vdom_roots = Interpreter::evaluate_vdom_incr(
-            &self.doc.roots,
+            &root_refs,
             &mut self.doc.variables,
             &self.doc.components,
             &self.rhei,
diff --git a/src/interpreter/mod.rs b/src/interpreter/mod.rs
index 1232186..9810a0c 100644
--- a/src/interpreter/mod.rs
+++ b/src/interpreter/mod.rs
@@ -329,11 +329,12 @@ impl Interpreter {
     stylesheet: &SS,
     ancestors:  &[AncestorInfo],
 ) -> Vec<Element<'a>> {
-        Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(templates, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, ancestors, &HashSet::new())
+        let refs: Vec<&Element<'a>> = templates.iter().collect();
+        Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(&refs, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, ancestors, &HashSet::new())
     }
 
     pub fn evaluate_vdom_incr<'a>(
-    templates:  &[Element<'a>],
+    templates:  &[&Element<'a>],
     variables:  &mut HashMap<String, Value>,
     components: &HashMap<String, ComponentDef<'a>>,
     rhei:       &RheiContext,
@@ -382,12 +383,12 @@ impl Interpreter {
                     let cond = el.get_prop("condition").unwrap_or_default();
                     let is_true = Self::evaluate_condition(cond, variables, rhei);
 
-                    let mut active_branch = Vec::new();
-                    for child in &el.children {
+                    let mut active_branch: Vec<&Element<'a>> = Vec::new();
+                    for child in el.children.iter() {
                         if child.type_name == "@else" {
-                            if !is_true { active_branch.extend(child.children.clone()); }
+                            if !is_true { active_branch.extend(child.children.iter()); }
                         } else if is_true {
-                            active_branch.push(child.clone());
+                            active_branch.push(child);
                         }
                     }
                     output.extend(Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(
@@ -411,11 +412,13 @@ impl Interpreter {
                         resolved_source.split(',').map(str::trim).map(str::to_string).collect()
                     };
 
+                    let child_refs: Vec<&Element<'a>> = el.children.iter().collect();
+
                     for item in items {
                         let old_val = variables.insert(var_name.to_string(), Value::Str(CompactString::new(item)));
 
                         output.extend(Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(
-                            &el.children, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, ancestors, dirty_set,
+                            &child_refs, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, ancestors, dirty_set,
                         ));
 
                         if let Some(old) = old_val {
@@ -456,8 +459,9 @@ impl Interpreter {
                         vcomp.computed_style = ComputedStyle::compute(&vcomp.properties, &matched_sheets);
 
                         let child_ancestors = Self::build_ancestor_chain(ancestors, &vcomp);
+                        let comp_child_refs: Vec<&Element<'a>> = comp.children.iter().collect();
                         vcomp.children = Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(
-                            &comp.children, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, &child_ancestors, dirty_set,
+                            &comp_child_refs, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, &child_ancestors, dirty_set,
                         );
                         output.push(vcomp);
 
@@ -488,8 +492,9 @@ impl Interpreter {
                         vnode.computed_style = ComputedStyle::compute(&vnode.properties, &matched_sheets);
 
                         let child_ancestors = Self::build_ancestor_chain(ancestors, &vnode);
+                        let child_refs: Vec<&Element<'a>> = el.children.iter().collect();
                         vnode.children = Self::evaluate_vdom_incr(
-                            &el.children, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, &child_ancestors, dirty_set,
+                            &child_refs, variables, components, rhei, stylesheet, &child_ancestors, dirty_set,
                         );
                         output.push(vnode);
                     }