differences between a Visualforce page and an Aura component request lifecycle

Visualforce Page lifecycle involves a server-side request-response model where page is rendered at server and sent to client. The controller executes when a request is made.
Aura Component lifecycle is more client-side focused. It's a single-page application model where components are loaded at once and component interactions handle most of the operations without full page reloads.
In short, Visualforce is more traditional web page based, while Aura Components are more dynamic and modern, providing a more interactive user experience.