bonsai cutting a plant generally refers to keeping the plant as small as is possible, ie like a bansai tree there are better images out there just cant find them right now. Pruning can refer to a number of things, most commonly, simply pruning off dead material. If your talking about pruning techniques your most likely wondering about Fimming and Topping, you can read all about them in that link. Briefly, main benefits are 2 or multiple colas, causes plant to become more bushy, cons, can stunt and stress a plant, should be done at the right times.