Iteration is the process of performing some action on a collection of elements, one at a time. It is most commonly expressed using some form of loop syntax. Iterative processes can also be expressed using recursion. This is often a more elegant way to express an algorithm. However, it is typically more resource-intensive, and harder for first-time programmers to grasp. This article is to help you choose an appropriate programming construct, but listing different types of loop, and giving a brief description of each. For more detail, see individual articles on the different loops.