Optimize bytes.replace(b'', b'.')

Issue #26574: Optimize bytes.replace(b'', b'.') and
bytearray.replace(b'', b'.'): up to 80% faster. Patch written by Josh Snider.
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index e67f6d1..52eae69 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -1376,6 +1376,7 @@
 Roy Smith
 Ryan Smith-Roberts
 Rafal Smotrzyk
+Josh Snider
 Eric Snow
 Dirk Soede
 Nir Soffer
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 6f5c7ab..2fa82f3 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #26574: Optimize ``bytes.replace(b'', b'.')`` and
+  ``bytearray.replace(b'', b'.')``. Patch written by Josh Snider.
+
 - Issue #26581: If coding cookie is specified multiple times on a line in
   Python source code file, only the first one is taken to account.