What are the two basic types of reproduction and differentiate them clearly?

There are two main forms of reproduction:

1) Asexual - In this, only a single parent is required. This is the form of reproduction in primitive organisms. The parent simply divides itself into two. The type of cell division is mitosis. The children produced are a genetic clone to the parent. Hence this is not favorable where genetic mutations are necessary.

2) Sexual - In this, two parents are required. This is the form of reproduction in higher organisms including humans. Each parent cell divided into 4 leading to cells with half the chromosome count(meiotic division). Then two meiotic cells fuse to form the zygote in which the original chromosome count is restored. It leads to genetic variation in the offsprings enabling them to survive better in the mutating environment.