Which operation is typically associated with the concept of recursion?

The operation that is typically associated with the concept of recursion is calling a function within itself. Recursion is a programming technique where a function solves a problem by calling itself with a subset of the original problem, thereby breaking it down into smaller, more manageable parts. This self-referential nature allows the function to continue processing until it reaches a base case, which is a condition under which the recursion stops and begins to return values back through the chain of calls.

In practice, recursion can solve complex problems more elegantly than iteration in certain scenarios, such as traversing data structures like trees or performing tasks that naturally fit into a divide-and-conquer strategy. The importance of the self-calling nature of the function is what primarily defines recursion and distinguishes it from other programming constructs.