> They either serve to stroke the interviewer’s ego that's why i'd ask about duff's device. I often admit i am no programmer or developer, here on HN, and that

> They either serve to stroke the interviewer’s ego that's why i'd ask about duff's device. I often admit i am no programmer or developer, here on HN, and that's true. I've only ever implemented recursion when it's part of the pattern or when "learning" a language. my understanding is that recursion is great for tight, small loops, where you need to do say 0<n<10 loops. But if you can't guarantee the tight loop every time, i.e., if it is a dynamic part of business logic or whatever, then you run the risk of blowing up the stack, or heap, or whatever it is. I don't remember which, and i could look it up; but my point is most developers don't need to know if the stack is at risk rather than the heap if your recursive call ends up being called a lot of times. But i really would ask about duff's; me and a friend came up with a use for duff's device maybe 2005 or 2006, and tested it, and published it as part of a forum argument; but i am curious if anyone else could "come up with one" or "remember one" that isn't the "de-facto duff's device demonstration".