Decentralized source control

With a decentralized source control system, all files, history, and branches are also stored on a server. The difference with centralized source control comes when you clone the repository, to have a local copy on your own computer.

Since you have a full clone of the repository, you can now view the history of a file and other branches without connecting to the server again. This obviously lessens the load on the server and allows you to continue working even when disconnected, two advantages of decentralized source control.

The downside is that decentralized source control can be harder to learn than centralized source control. Overall, the learning curve of decentralized source control systems is steeper. Also, access control on the level of individual directories and files is often more limited.

No matter which type of source control you are using, you must put a branching and merging strategy in place to allow developers to work on different features in parallel, while always keeping your master branch in a shippable state.