That’s intentional. So if one part of the code suffers a random mutation and spontaneously develops a bug, the redundant code can still ensure the proper functioning of the program while the bug gets fixed.

Just take care if you merge two branches that contain the same bug; you might end up with a program without functional redundant code. That’s why you should never merge closely related branches.

It’s how isoforms functions with different signatures evolve. As long as it isn’t harmful it tends to stick around. Then the different code may develop adaptations which fit it into a niche if it is a selective advantage for the organism code base.

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