Overview of Iterative Functions

What is Iteration?

Iteration means repeating some steps to achieve the desired outcome. In computer programming, this may involve a mechanism, such as a loops.

Iterative code is a block of code that runs in a loop. In other words, the same code is repeated over and over again. The idea is similar to that of recursion.

As we are learning recursion, it is important to have an overview of iteration as well. You might have written simple programs that involve iterating over an array, list, etc.

The concept of Recursion and Iteration is to execute a set of instructions repeatedly.

However, the difference between them is that recursion is simply a method call in which the method being called is the same as the one making the call. Iteration, on the other hand, is when a loop is repeatedly executed until a certain condition is satisfied.

Both recursion and iteration depend on a condition which determines whether to stop execution or continue it.

Format of an Iterative Function

Each iterative function consists of a loop and a conditional statement that determines whether to continue iteration or to stop.