What are the differences between recursion and iteration in Python?

What are the differences between recursion and iteration in Python?

Recursion involves a function calling itself, while iteration uses loops. Recursion can be more elegant but may use more memory.

Can you give me an example of a recursive function?

Sure! Here's a simple example of a recursive function that calculates the factorial of a number:

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

What about an iterative version of the same function?

Here's the iterative version of the factorial function:

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

Which one is better to use?

It depends on the situation. Recursion can be more readable and easier to implement for problems like tree traversals, while iteration is generally more efficient in terms of memory.