Final answer:
The main difference lies in SharedFlow's ability to broadcast to multiple subscribers and replay values, compared to Channel's queue-like behavior where values are consumed and not shared among multiple collectors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The behavior difference between SharedFlow and Channel in Kotlin's coroutines is primarily rooted in how they deal with stream of values in terms of backpressure and how multiple collectors receive values.
SharedFlow is designed for the cases where we have multiple collectors that should receive identical values, even if they start collecting after the value was emitted. It's like broadcasting where all subscribers receive the same data. SharedFlows also provide a replay feature, that can replay a number of values to new subscribers.
In contrast, a Channel is conceptually similar to a queue. Once a value is consumed by a collector, it’s removed from the channel. This means that values are not shared among collectors. Channels can deal with backpressure via different strategies, like suspending senders, buffering, or dropping values.