What is the difference between recursion and iteration?

Recursion — a function calls itself. Iteration — a repetitive process using a loop.

Feature	Recursion	Iteration
Mechanism	Calling the function itself	Using loops (for, while)
Memory	Uses call stack	Does not use call stack to the same extent
Readability	Can be more concise for some tasks	Can be less intuitive for recursive tasks
Performance	Can be slower and use more memory due to call overhead	Usually more efficient
Danger	Stack Overflow with deep nesting	Infinite loop with incorrect exit conditions

Example of recursive factorial calculation:

def factorial_recursive(n):
    if n == 0:
        return 1
    else:
        return n * factorial_recursive(n - 1) # Recursive call

Example of iterative factorial calculation:

def factorial_iterative(n):
    result = 1
    for i in range(1, n + 1):
        result *= i # Loop iteration
    return result