Compae the processes first
Single stage presses pretty much only do batch processing.
Turrets can do batch or continuous with equal ease
Progressives are designed for continuous processing, but can be used for batch processing)
Operational differences between single stage and turret presses and how it relates to batch processing vs continuous processing.
Short answer:
Batch processing: You can do your batches in 50 as I do or 20 or 100 or 1,000. But the operations are the same. (For pistol) Size/deprime and prime 50 rounds, then switch dies and bell/flare and charge 50 rounds. Inspect the charges in a batch and switch dies. Seat and crimp 50 rounds. When one batch is done you box it up and move on to the next batch. With batch processing, you handle the case through multiple insert-remove cycles.
Continuous processing: You put the empty case in the press and do all the operations (size/deprime, bell/charge, seat/crimp) and remove the finished cartridge only after all the steps are done. This saves a lot of handling the cases (at least three insertion-removal cycles) and amounts to a lot of time saved.
As a practical matter a single stage press can only do batch operation. Turret presses can do either batch processing (as a single stage) or continuous processing with equal facility.
Batch operation is slower than continuous operation because with continuous processing you only insert and remove the cartridge case once per cartridge (the case going through all the loading steps without ever exiting the press) All that extra handling and hand movement takes time. Thus a Turret can be 2 to 4 times as fast as a single stage. But more care needs to be taken to yield the same degree of quality control and safety.
Long answer:
A turret is a single stage with multiple die stations. That is the only operational difference. But that difference allows a turret to do either continuous operation or batch with equal ease where a single stage is practical only for batch processing.
Single stages tend to be (but are not necessarily) stronger and stiffer. This is mostly because single stages' frames (with few exceptions) are usually cast in a single piece where turrets are of at least two parts assembled, and they move, which pretty much requires there be some clearance. In practice, the difference is vanishingly small. But we still argue over it.
Like a single stage, a turret press does only one thing (operation, like size/deprime, belling case mouth, seat/crimp) at a time, but switching between those operations/dies is nearly instantaneous. This makes continuous processing practical. (In contrast to progressive presses which do multiple different steps simultaneously.)
Continuous vs batch saves a LOT of time. If the press indexes the dies automatically, it saves a lot of hand motions. If you index the die stations manually, it is a little slower, but still much faster than batch processing because of all the insert-remove cycles and the hand movements associated with those.
If you interrupt the sequence of operations in a batch (like cleaning primer pockets or case trimming) the time savings of continuous/sequential processing is reduced, but still substantial. So many loaders of bottleneck (rifle) cartridges who do those off-press operations or inspections in the middle of the loading process, often choose to break up even the continuous process into smaller groupings of operations, making their loading into a hybrid of batch and continuous. Other loaders of such cartridges use the continuous process, but temporarily interrupt the process to pull each case from the press before continuing. And some just do batch processing because it is simpler, and simple is good. It is a matter of style as much as of operational design.
I said earlier that continuous/sequential processing saves a lot of time (up to 75% by some reckoning). But this comes at a cost. One must be more assiduous about quality control.
For example, primer seating. With batch processing, I run 50 cases through my press and each case winds up in a 50-hole loading block, primer ends up. At that time, I can look at the whole bunch of primers and see that they are all seated right-side in and all seated below flush. With continuous processing, I do the same inspection as I remove each (finished) case from the press. But it is a little later than the ideal time to detect a defect. Another example, perhaps more pointed: After charging all cases with powder, I can look in all 50 cases lined up in their little holes in the block and see that they are all filled to the same depth. You really cannot do that side-by-side-by-side comparison with continuous processing.
Whatever method(s) you choose, if the production algorithm is well designed for the cartridge and your temperament it will work and is, by design, perfect for you and your production needs. So, you could use the press one way for pistol and another way for rifle. You don't have to do pure batch or continuous processing either. You can devise your own hybrid method, a combination of the two or something else altogether.
I cannot emphasis strongly enough that you MUST design your loading process carefully. Think of your loading bench the way a production designer thinks of his factory floor, because that's what it is. With a factory's QC (Quality Control), safety procedures, producton rate, whole set of design parameters. Treat your loading bench like you were Henry Ford, designing his first assembly line, or a softdrink bottling company or Beam, Inc (a distillery is the epitomy of batch processing, isn't it?). You can get the optimum of all your goals, safety, accuracy, efficiency.
I suggest you view the many (almost too many) videos on the internet showing the operation of various presses.
Lost Sheep