polling-cycle.py

# Based on https://www.xaprb.com/blog/2006/05/04/how-to-make-a-program-choose-an-optimal-polling-interval/
wait = 128;
minWait = 1;
maxWait = 32768;
didSomething = false;

while (true) {
   didSomething = false;

   // Do stuff till done
   do {
      stuffToDo = pollResource();
      if (stuffToDo) {
         doStuff(stuffToDo);
         didSomething = true;
      }
   } while (stuffToDo);

   // Decide how long to wait
   if (didSomething) {
      wait = max(minWait, wait / 2);
   }
   else {
      wait = min(maxWait, wait * 2);
   }

   // Wait
   sleep(wait);
}