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Integration by parts comes up a lot - for instance, it appears in the definition of a weak derivative / distributional derivative, or as a tool that one can use to turn information about higher derivatives of a function into information about an integral of that function. Concrete examples of this latter category include: proving that $f \in C^2(S^1)$ implies that the Fourier series of $f$ converges absolutely and uniformly, and the Taylor series expansion with the integral formula for remainder.

However, I don't feel like I really understand what integration by parts is really doing. To me, it is just an algebraic trick that follows from the fundamental theorem of calculus and the product rule. Is there some more conceptual way to think about it?

How do you think about this useful idea?