diff --git a/src/common/bit_array.rs b/src/common/bit_array.rs
index bc05ac1..c3ba94b 100644
--- a/src/common/bit_array.rs
+++ b/src/common/bit_array.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ use std::{cmp, fmt};
 
 use crate::Exceptions;
 
-static EMPTY_BITS: [u32; 0] = [0; 0];
 static LOAD_FACTOR: f32 = 0.75f32;
 
 /**
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ pub struct BitArray {
 impl BitArray {
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         Self {
-            bits: EMPTY_BITS.to_vec(),
+            bits: Vec::new(),
             size: 0,
         }
     }
@@ -327,7 +326,7 @@ impl BitArray {
      * @return underlying array of ints. The first element holds the first 32 bits, and the least
      *         significant bit is bit 0.
      */
-    pub fn getBitArray(&self) -> &Vec<u32> {
+    pub fn getBitArray(&self) -> &[u32] {
         &self.bits
     }
 
diff --git a/src/common/bit_matrix.rs b/src/common/bit_matrix.rs
index 221641e..68b3e27 100644
--- a/src/common/bit_matrix.rs
+++ b/src/common/bit_matrix.rs
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ impl BitMatrix {
         Ok(((self.bits[offset] >> (x & 0x1f)) & 1) != 0)
     }
 
+    /// Confusingly returns true if the requested element is out of bounds
     pub fn check_in_bounds(&self, x: u32, y: u32) -> bool {
         (y as usize * self.row_size + (x as usize / 32)) > self.bits.len()
     }
diff --git a/src/common/global_histogram_binarizer.rs b/src/common/global_histogram_binarizer.rs
index 13a47d1..2212eee 100644
--- a/src/common/global_histogram_binarizer.rs
+++ b/src/common/global_histogram_binarizer.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ use super::{BitArray, BitMatrix};
  * @author Sean Owen
  */
 pub struct GlobalHistogramBinarizer {
-    _luminances: Vec<u8>,
+    //_luminances: Vec<u8>,
     width: usize,
     height: usize,
     source: Box<dyn LuminanceSource>,
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ impl GlobalHistogramBinarizer {
 
     pub fn new(source: Box<dyn LuminanceSource>) -> Self {
         Self {
-            _luminances: vec![0; source.getWidth()],
+            //_luminances: vec![0; source.getWidth()],
             width: source.getWidth(),
             height: source.getHeight(),
             black_matrix: OnceCell::new(),
diff --git a/src/common/reedsolomon/generic_gf_poly.rs b/src/common/reedsolomon/generic_gf_poly.rs
index ab64f54..721f0d0 100644
--- a/src/common/reedsolomon/generic_gf_poly.rs
+++ b/src/common/reedsolomon/generic_gf_poly.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ impl GenericGFPoly {
      * or if leading coefficient is 0 and this is not a
      * constant polynomial (that is, it is not the monomial "0")
      */
-    pub fn new(field: GenericGFRef, coefficients: &Vec<i32>) -> Result<Self, Exceptions> {
+    pub fn new(field: GenericGFRef, coefficients: &[i32]) -> Result<Self, Exceptions> {
         if coefficients.is_empty() {
             return Err(Exceptions::IllegalArgumentException(Some(
                 "coefficients.len()".to_owned(),
diff --git a/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_decoder.rs b/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_decoder.rs
index e5178bd..c43655b 100644
--- a/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_decoder.rs
+++ b/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_decoder.rs
@@ -76,9 +76,8 @@ impl ReedSolomonDecoder {
         if noError {
             return Ok(0);
         }
-        let syndrome = match GenericGFPoly::new(self.field, &syndromeCoefficients) {
-            Ok(res) => res,
-            Err(_fail) => return Err(Exceptions::ReedSolomonException(None)),
+        let Ok(syndrome) = GenericGFPoly::new(self.field, &syndromeCoefficients) else {
+             return Err(Exceptions::ReedSolomonException(None));
         };
         let sigmaOmega = self.runEuclideanAlgorithm(
             &GenericGF::buildMonomial(self.field, twoS as usize, 1),
diff --git a/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_encoder.rs b/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_encoder.rs
index 7fa47a1..7ded62e 100644
--- a/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_encoder.rs
+++ b/src/common/reedsolomon/reedsolomon_encoder.rs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ impl ReedSolomonEncoder {
     pub fn new(field: GenericGFRef) -> Self {
         let n = field;
         Self {
-            cachedGenerators: vec![GenericGFPoly::new(n, &vec![1]).unwrap()],
+            cachedGenerators: vec![GenericGFPoly::new(n, &[1]).unwrap()],
             field: n,
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/common/string_utils.rs b/src/common/string_utils.rs
index 29893b1..46843e2 100644
--- a/src/common/string_utils.rs
+++ b/src/common/string_utils.rs
@@ -71,20 +71,21 @@ impl StringUtils {
      *  "SJIS", "UTF8", "ISO8859_1", or the platform default encoding if none
      *  of these can possibly be correct
      */
-    pub fn guessEncoding(bytes: &[u8], hints: &DecodingHintDictionary) -> String {
+    pub fn guessEncoding(bytes: &[u8], hints: &DecodingHintDictionary) -> &'static str {
         let c = StringUtils::guessCharset(bytes, hints);
         if c.name()
             == encoding::label::encoding_from_whatwg_label("SJIS")
                 .unwrap()
                 .name()
         {
-            return "SJIS".to_owned();
+             "SJIS"
         } else if c.name() == encoding::all::UTF_8.name() {
-            return "UTF8".to_owned();
+             "UTF8"
         } else if c.name() == encoding::all::ISO_8859_1.name() {
-            return "ISO8859_1".to_owned();
+             "ISO8859_1"
+        }else {
+     c.name()
         }
-        return c.name().to_owned();
     }
 
     /**