What is the difference between iterative and recursive functions

Allows the set of instructions to be repeatedly executed. Format In recursive function, only termination condition base case is specified.

Iteration includes initialization, condition, execution of statement within loop and update increments and decrements the control variable. Termination A conditional statement is included in the body of the function to force the function to return without recursion call being executed. The iteration statement is repeatedly executed until a certain condition is reached.

Condition If the function does not converge to some condition called base case , it leads to infinite recursion. If the control condition in the iteration statement never become false, it leads to infinite iteration. Infinite Repetition Infinite recursion can crash the system.

Infinite loop uses CPU cycles repeatedly. Applied Recursion is always applied to functions. Iteration is applied to iteration statements or "loops". Stack The stack is used to store the set of new local variables and parameters each time the function is called. Does not uses stack. Overhead Recursion possesses the overhead of repeated function calls. Recursive vs Iterative Algorithms: Approach: In recursive approach, the function calls itself until the condition is met, whereas, in iterative approach, a function repeats until the condition fails.

Programming Construct Usage: Recursive algorithm uses a branching structure, while iterative algorithm uses a looping construct.

Termination Test: Iteration terminates when the loop-continuation condition fails; recursion terminates when a base case is recognized. Infinite Call: An infinite loop occurs with iteration if the loop-continuation test never becomes false; infinite recursion occurs if the recursion step does not reduce the problem in a manner that converges on the base case. Like this: Like Loading This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.

Since iteration does not have to keep re-initializing its component variables and neither has to store function states, the performance is fast.

Memory Runout There is a possibility of running out of memory, since for each function call stack area gets used. There is no possibility of running out of memory as stack area is not used. Overhead Recursive functions involve extensive overhead, as for each function call the current state, parameters etc have to be pushed and popped out from stack. There is no overhead in Iteration. Applications Factorial , Fibonacci Series etc. Finding average of a data series, creating multiplication table etc.

Those statements execute till the condition is true. After executing the statements inside the loop, the control goes to modify section. It is to update the loop control variable. Then the condition is checked again. If the condition is true, the statements inside the curly braces will execute.

So, the loop executes at least once. Program to find the factorial of 3 3! This article discussed the difference between recursion and iteration. Both can be used to solve programming problems. The difference between recursion and iteration is that recursion is a mechanism to call a function within the same function and iteration it to execute a set of instructions repeatedly until the given condition is true.

If a problem can be solved in recursive form, it can also be solved using iterations. You can download PDF version of this article and use it for offline purposes as per citation note. Point, Tutorials. Available here 2. Available here 3. Available here. Her areas of interests in writing and research include programming, data science, and computer systems.

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