Dear Community,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am currently engaged in the development of a DeFi protocol and have encountered several challenges related to gas consumption and contract execution costs. As such, I would like to open a discussion around the various techniques and strategies developers are currently implementing to optimize Solidity smart contracts for gas efficiency.

To initiate this dialogue, I would like to pose a few specific questions:

1. Data Structures: What are the most efficient data structures you've utilized in Solidity to minimize gas? For instance, do you favor mapping over array in certain use cases?

2. Function Design: How do you approach splitting logic between internal and external functions to reduce redundant computation? Have view and pure functions significantly helped in reducing costs in your experience?

3. Storage vs Memory: In which scenarios have you found that minimizing storage reads/writes (perhaps by using memory or caching in variables) has led to measurable improvements in performance?

4. Third-Party Libraries: Are there any trusted libraries (OpenZeppelin or others) that you've found especially helpful in deploying gas-optimized code without compromising security?

5. Advanced Compiler Settings: Has anyone experimented with newer Solidity compiler settings or Yul-based inline assembly to improve efficiency? If so, what results did you observe?

I believe a detailed exchange of strategies, lessons learned, and even anecdotal cases from deployed contracts would be invaluable for everyone involved in smart contract development.

Looking forward to hearing your expert insights, approaches, and best practices.