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I rather dislike recursion, I find it to be the remedial hammer of software development. Sure there are some use cases, but most problems are solvable in a more efficient manner, such as the use of formulas. Even if a formula is not viable, there are other methods that produce better maintainable code. I label recursion as 'use as a last resort'.

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I think that everyone felt really smart the first time they "got" recursion. Then that feeling has followed them around but switched position assuming that someone isn't smart UNLESS they get recursion. I think recursion is a really clever way to solve a select few problems but I hate cleverness most of the time when I see it in code. Recursion is a neat concept but IMO with the multitude of relevant questions that could be asked of a developer it should be further down on most interviewers lists.

What does "the use of formulas" mean? Could you give a concrete example of what you're referring to?

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