Part of StateFlow.kt(coroutines)

StateFlow.kt

    override suspend fun collect(collector: FlowCollector<T>) {
        val slot = allocateSlot()
        try {
            if (collector is SubscribedFlowCollector) collector.onSubscription()
            val collectorJob = currentCoroutineContext()[Job]
            var oldState: Any? = null // previously emitted T!! | NULL (null -- nothing emitted yet)
            // The loop is arranged so that it starts delivering current value without waiting first
            while (true) {
                // Here the coroutine could have waited for a while to be dispatched,
                // so we use the most recent state here to ensure the best possible conflation of stale values
                val newState = _state.value
                // always check for cancellation
                collectorJob?.ensureActive()
                // Conflate value emissions using equality
                if (oldState == null || oldState != newState) {
                    collector.emit(NULL.unbox(newState))
                    oldState = newState
                }
                // Note: if awaitPending is cancelled, then it bails out of this loop and calls freeSlot
                if (!slot.takePending()) { // try fast-path without suspending first
                    slot.awaitPending() // only suspend for new values when needed
                }
            }
        } finally {
            freeSlot(slot)
        }
    }

Difference between flow