The OP is learning from a book, and *intentionally* playing with recursion. The question wasn't "do I have a design flaw?", it was essentially "how do I fix this code I'm toying with to learn?".

It's no different from the question the other day about a beginning Perl developer mucking with the symbol table. Why would someone outright declare that something is a design flaw when the question wasn't about design specifically? Sure, make mention of the potential drawbacks, but to fully claim something is wrong is, well, wrong.

Some of my best software uses weird footguns, and that's because I took the time to educate myself on them early in my path, which led me to understand when they truly are needed and makes them completely shine above and beyond typical idioms.

Lastly, please don't quote me simply to justify your position, especially when you just pluck parts of what I said. I vehemently believe you are wrong in outright claiming that recursion is a design flaw, and I stand by that.

-stevieb