How do I implement iterative functions in programming?

What are iterative functions and how do I implement them?

Iterative functions are functions that repeat a process until a certain condition is met. You can implement them using loops.

Can you give me an example of an iterative function in Python?

Sure! Here's a simple example that calculates the factorial of a number using a loop:

def factorial(n):
    result = 1
    for i in range(1, n + 1):
        result *= i
    return result

What if I want to use recursion instead of iteration?

You can use recursion to achieve the same result. Here's how the factorial function looks with recursion:

def factorial(n):
    if n == 0:
        return 1
    else:
        return n * factorial(n - 1)

Are there any performance differences between iterative and recursive functions?

Yes, iterative functions generally use less memory and are faster because they don't involve the overhead of multiple function calls like recursion does.