Iteration VS Recursive Methods

Question

What is the difference between recursive methods and iteration and what are the advantages of using the two approaches in a java program?

Answer 1

Iterativity It’s better than recursive when we’re analyzing performance. Readability of iterative codes requires some programmer experience, mainly in larger code, with many nested loops.

Recursiveness gives the code greater readability, making it simpler to understand. For small applications, recursion often presents tolerable loss of performance. There are also techniques, such as memoizing (caching), that can equate the algorithmic compexity to the iterative program.

https://dietkx.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/recursividade-x-iteratividade/

Example using Iteration

int FibonacciIterativo(int termo) {
    int termo1 = 1, fibo = 0, temp = 0;
    for (int cont = 1;cont <= termo-1; cont++) {
        temp = fibo; //faz o giro, a variável temp serve somente para que não sejam perdidos valores
        fibo += termo1; //observe, são necessárias 3 variáveis
        termo1 = temp;
    }
    return fibo;
}

Example using Recursion

int FibonacciRecursivo(int termo){
   int primeiro = 0, segundo = 1, retorno = -2;
   if(termo == 1)
       retorno = primeiro;
   else if (termo == 2)
       retorno = segundo;
   else
       retorno = FibonacciRecursivo(termo-1) + FibonacciRecursivo(termo-2);
   return retorno;
}

Recursive in 1 line with ternary operator

int FibonacciRecursivoComOperadorTernario(int termo) {
    return (termo == 1 || termo == 2) ? 1 : FibonacciRecursivoComOperadorTernario(termo - 1) + FibonacciRecursivoComOperadorTernario(termo - 2);
}

Recursive methods use more processing resources. Typically uses recursive methods for solutions where iterations are not feasible.

Here has a comparison between the two types of methods.