<pre class="ebnf">
ChannelType = ( "chan" | "chan" "&lt;-" | "&lt;-" "chan" ) ElementType .
</pre>

<p>
The optional <code>&lt;-</code> operator specifies the channel <i>direction</i>,
<i>send</i> or <i>receive</i>. If a direction is given, the channel is <i>directional</i>,
otherwise it is <i>bidirectional</i>.
A channel may be constrained only to send or only to receive by
<a href="#Assignment_statements">assignment</a> or