From 434fca52203805619571b2ef2b676267e24ba0e3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kumar Ujjawal <ujjawalpathak6@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:55:19 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] perf: Optimize scalar path for ascii function

---
 datafusion/functions/benches/ascii.rs    | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++-
 datafusion/functions/src/string/ascii.rs | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/datafusion/functions/benches/ascii.rs b/datafusion/functions/benches/ascii.rs
index 66d81261bfe8..e15483c19a45 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions/benches/ascii.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions/benches/ascii.rs
@@ -20,14 +20,43 @@ mod helper;
 
 use arrow::datatypes::{DataType, Field};
 use criterion::{Criterion, criterion_group, criterion_main};
+use datafusion_common::ScalarValue;
 use datafusion_common::config::ConfigOptions;
-use datafusion_expr::ScalarFunctionArgs;
+use datafusion_expr::{ColumnarValue, ScalarFunctionArgs};
 use helper::gen_string_array;
 use std::hint::black_box;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 fn criterion_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
     let ascii = datafusion_functions::string::ascii();
+    let config_options = Arc::new(ConfigOptions::default());
+
+    // Scalar benchmarks (outside loop)
+    c.bench_function("ascii/scalar_utf8", |b| {
+        let args = ScalarFunctionArgs {
+            args: vec![ColumnarValue::Scalar(ScalarValue::Utf8(Some(
+                "hello".to_string(),
+            )))],
+            arg_fields: vec![Field::new("a", DataType::Utf8, false).into()],
+            number_rows: 1,
+            return_field: Field::new("f", DataType::Int32, true).into(),
+            config_options: Arc::clone(&config_options),
+        };
+        b.iter(|| black_box(ascii.invoke_with_args(args.clone()).unwrap()))
+    });
+
+    c.bench_function("ascii/scalar_utf8view", |b| {
+        let args = ScalarFunctionArgs {
+            args: vec![ColumnarValue::Scalar(ScalarValue::Utf8View(Some(
+                "hello".to_string(),
+            )))],
+            arg_fields: vec![Field::new("a", DataType::Utf8View, false).into()],
+            number_rows: 1,
+            return_field: Field::new("f", DataType::Int32, true).into(),
+            config_options: Arc::clone(&config_options),
+        };
+        b.iter(|| black_box(ascii.invoke_with_args(args.clone()).unwrap()))
+    });
 
     // All benches are single batch run with 8192 rows
     const N_ROWS: usize = 8192;
diff --git a/datafusion/functions/src/string/ascii.rs b/datafusion/functions/src/string/ascii.rs
index fe3c508edea0..bfd035ed3c0d 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions/src/string/ascii.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions/src/string/ascii.rs
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
-use crate::utils::make_scalar_function;
 use arrow::array::{ArrayRef, AsArray, Int32Array, StringArrayType};
 use arrow::datatypes::DataType;
 use arrow::error::ArrowError;
 use datafusion_common::types::logical_string;
-use datafusion_common::{Result, internal_err};
+use datafusion_common::utils::take_function_args;
+use datafusion_common::{Result, ScalarValue, internal_err};
 use datafusion_expr::{ColumnarValue, Documentation, TypeSignatureClass};
 use datafusion_expr::{ScalarFunctionArgs, ScalarUDFImpl, Signature, Volatility};
 use datafusion_expr_common::signature::Coercion;
@@ -91,7 +91,31 @@ impl ScalarUDFImpl for AsciiFunc {
     }
 
     fn invoke_with_args(&self, args: ScalarFunctionArgs) -> Result<ColumnarValue> {
-        make_scalar_function(ascii, vec![])(&args.args)
+        let [arg] = take_function_args(self.name(), args.args)?;
+
+        match arg {
+            ColumnarValue::Scalar(scalar) => {
+                if scalar.is_null() {
+                    return Ok(ColumnarValue::Scalar(ScalarValue::Int32(None)));
+                }
+
+                match scalar {
+                    ScalarValue::Utf8(Some(s))
+                    | ScalarValue::LargeUtf8(Some(s))
+                    | ScalarValue::Utf8View(Some(s)) => {
+                        let result = s.chars().next().map_or(0, |c| c as i32);
+                        Ok(ColumnarValue::Scalar(ScalarValue::Int32(Some(result))))
+                    }
+                    _ => {
+                        internal_err!(
+                            "Unexpected data type {:?} for function ascii",
+                            scalar.data_type()
+                        )
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            ColumnarValue::Array(array) => Ok(ColumnarValue::Array(ascii(&[array])?)),
+        }
     }
 
     fn documentation(&self) -> Option<&Documentation> {