Whenever you're ready, walk me through how you'd approach this.
Describe a time you had to optimize a piece of code for performance. Explain how you identified the bottleneck, evaluated possible solutions, and decided which changes to make. Include how you collaborated with others, validated the improvement, and managed any trade-offs involving readability, reliability, or delivery timing. We are looking for a specific example rather than a general explanation of optimization techniques. Be clear about your individual contribution, the evidence that guided your decisions, the measurable result, and what you learned from the experience.