Difference between 301 redirection and rel=canonical ?
 

Please help me here what is the effect and difference between 301 redirection and rel=canonical.

301 redirection is use for redirection from old URL to new URL. here you show the google that the current page is permanently moved to another url.

and canonical is use to prevent penalizes by google for duplicate content. whether your single page open by multiple URL then google consider it as a spamming work. So in this cage you should put the rel canonical tag for telling which one is your "master page".

301 Redirect is a HTTP status code that is used to communicate to software and search engines that the original page that is trying to be accessed has been moved permanently to a new webpage. When your browser receives this code it will automatically go to the new URL which is mentioned together with the 301 status code.
Canonical Attribute is not a redirect. A rel=canonical attribute will not redirect a visitor to the new URL, instead it is used as a signal for search engines to indicate which page to index in the search results when similar or duplicated content appears within a website.

The rel=canonical element often called the “canonical link”, is an HTML element that helps webmasters prevent duplicate content issues by specifying the "canonical" or "preferred" version of a web page as part of search engine optimization.
Whereas
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to the other. A 301 redirect also is often described as a "change of address form" you might get at a post office. If someone doesn't know you moved, you want to make sure all your mail is forwarded to your new place.

The difference is that in case of 301 redirect you'll be redirected to a new page (your browser will open a new page). if you use the canonical tag, you (or the user) stays on the same page, but all the google juice goes to the page that you define as canonical.

Hi,
Though there are a few gray areas, Google provides some clear guidelines to make sure we all know how they want us to manage redirections. In very simple terms, here is what each communicates to Google and search engines:

301 – Hey, Search Engines: My page is no longer here, and has permanently moved to a new page. Please remove it from your index and pass credit to the new page.

Canonical – Hey, (most) Search Engines: I have multiple versions of this page (or content), please only index this version. I’ll keep the others available for people to see, but don’t include them in your index and please pass credit to my preferred page.
Thanks

301 - My page is no longer here, and has permanently moved to a new page. Please remove it from your index and pass credit to the new page.

Canonical -I have multiple versions of this page (or content), please only index this version. I’ll keep the others available for people to see, but don’t include them in your index and please pass credit to my preferred page.