The Iteration reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Iteration

Iteration is a characteristic of certain algorithms or computer programs in which a sequence of one or more algorithmic steps are performed in a program loop. It is distinguished from the repetitive technique called recursion.

Here is an example, in pseudocode:

   a = 0

   for i = 0 stepby 1 until 3

       a = a + i

   print a  /* "6" is printed */

A process which is repeated again and again is known as a reiterative process. Reiteration is often used in order to converge on the final result when starting with an educated guess.

See also: Iterative and Incremental development -- iterator -- Iterative method -- Nash embedding theorem

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