However, channels are different from Git branches, and do not serve the same purpose. In Pijul, **independent changes commute**, which makes **branches useless**.

Formally, a channel is a pointer to a set of changes (the *state* of a channel is a set of changes).
However, channels are different from Git branches, and do not serve the same purpose. In Pijul, **independent changes commute**, which means that in many cases where branches are used in Git, there is no need to create a channel in Pijul.