Slack Critical Path PERT

Object-Oriented Software Engineering
Using UML, Patterns, and Java
Slack and Critical Path

 Slack is the amount of time which any of the tasks can be
delayed without causing the due date of the final task in the
sequence to be delayed as well.
 Critical path:
 A sequence of activities that take the longest time to complete
 The length of the critical path(s) defines how long your project will
take to complete.
 If a task is only on the critical path when delaying that task will
delay the project.
Bernd Bruegge & Allen H. Dutoit Object-Oriented Software Engineering: Using UML, Patterns, and Java 2
Example of project schedule showing critical path
Bernd Bruegge & Allen H. Dutoit Object-Oriented Software Engineering: Using UML, Patterns, and Java 3 3
 In the above example, the test preparation tasks are not on the
critical path.
 This means that if there is a delay in building or reviewing the

test plans, then the project due date will not change unless that
delay is long enough to put those tasks back on the critical path.
 In this case, that would require nine weeks (Thin bars to the
right of test preparation tasks).
Dependency Diagrams / Task network chart
 Dependency diagrams consist of 3 elements
 Event (also called milestone): A significant occurrence in the life of a project.
 Activity: Work required to move from one event to the next.
 Span time ( also called duration or elapsed time): The actual calendar time
required to complete an activity.
 Span time parameters: people’s availability, parallelizability of the activity,
availability of nonpersonnel resources, ….
 Dependency Diagram are drawn as a connected graph of nodes and arrows.
 2 commonly used diagram notations to display dependency diagrams:
 1) Activity-on-the-arrow (Mealy automaton)
 2) Activity-in-the-node (Moore automaton)
Why Dependency Diagrams?
 Example:
 You are assigned a project consisting of 10 activities which take one
week each to be completed.
 How long does the project take?
 When projects have more than 15-20 activities, one cannot to
compute the schedule in the head any more.
 Dependency Diagrams are a formal notation to help in the
construction and analysis of complex schedules
1) Activity-on-the-arrow Diagram Notation
Activity
A B
t
Event (Milestone
Span Time Event (Milestone
or Deliverable)
or Deliverable)
System Design
RAD SDD
T1 = 4 weeks
PERT
 PERT = Program Evaluation and Review Technique

 Helpful in calculating critical path.
 You can then compute the probability to determine the
likelihood that overall project duration will fall within specified
limits.
2) Activity-in-the-node Diagram Notation
Activity
A Node is either an event or an activity.
Distinction: Events have span time 0
A B C
tA = 0 tB = 0 tC = 0
Event (Milestone Event (Milestone

or Deliverable) or Deliverable)
Milestone boxes are often highlighted by double-lines
RAD SDD
System Design
available available
t = 2 weeks
t=0 t=0
Example of an Activity-in -the -Node Diagram
Activity 1 Activity 2
t1 = 5 t2 = 1
Start
t=0 End
t=0
Activity 4 Activity5
Activity 3
t3 = 1 t4 = 3 5= 2
What do we do with these diagrams?
 Compute the project duration

 Determine activities that are critical to ensure a timely delivery
 Analyse the diagrams

 to find ways to shorten the project duration
 To find ways to do activities in parallel
 2 techniques are used

 Forward pass (determine critical paths)
 Backward pass (determine slack time)
Definitions: Critical Path and Slack Time4
 Critical path:
 A sequence of activities that take the longest time to complete
 The length of the critical path(s) defines how long your project will
take to complete.
 Noncritical path:
 A sequence of activities that you can delay and still finish the
project in the shortest time possible.
 Slack time:
 The maximum amount of time that you can delay an activity and
still finish your project in the shortest time possible.
Example of a critical path
t1 = 5 t2 = 1
Start
t=0 End
t=0
Activity 3
t3 = 1 t4 = 3 t55 = 2
Critical path in bold face

Definitions: Start and Finish Dates
 Earliest start date:

 The earliest date you can start an activity
 Earliest finish date:
 The earliest date you can finish an activity
 Latest start date:
 The latest date you can start an activity and still finish the project in
the shortest time.
 Latest finish date:
 The latest date you can finish an activity and still finish the project
in the shortest time.
2 Ways to Analyze Dependency Diagrams
 Forward pass: Goal is the determination of critical paths
 Compute earliest start and finish dates for each activity
 Start at the beginning of the project and determine how fast you can
complete the activites along each path until you reach the final
project milestone.
 Backward pass: Goal the determination of slack times
 Compute latest start and finish dates activity
 Start at the end of your project, figure out for each activity how late
it can be started so that you still finish the project at the earliest
possible date.
 To compute start and finish times, we apply 2 rules
 Rule 1: After a node is finished, we can proceed to the next node(s)
that is reachable via a transition from the current node.
 Rule 2: To start a node all nodes must be complete from which
transitions to that node are possible.
Activity Schedule
Task Immediate predecessors Time (weeks)

A1 - 5
A2 A1 1
A3 - 1
A4 A3 3
A5 A1,A4 2
Activity 1
Forward Path Example t1 = 5
Activity 2
t2 = 1
Start
End
t=0
t=0
Project Duration = 7
Activity 3
EF= ES+t tA4 = 3 t5 = 2
tA3 = 1
Activity Earliest Start(ES) Earliest Finish(EF)

A1 Start of week 1 End of week
5 A2 Start of week 6 End of week
7
Activity 1
Backward Path Example t1 = 5
Activity 2
t2 = 1
Start
End
t=0
t=0
Project Duration = 7
LS=LF-t Activity 4 Activity5
Activity 3
LF=LS of the successor tA3 = 1 tA4 = 3 t5 = 2
Activity Latest Start(LS) Latest Finish(LF)

A1 Start of week 1 End of week
7
Computation of slack times
 Slack time ST of an activity A:
 STA = LSA - ESA or LF-EF
 Subtract the earliest start date from the latest start date for each activity
Example: STA4 = 3 - 2 = 1
Slack times on the same path influence each other.
Example: When Activity 3 is delayed by one week, activity 4
slack time becomes zero weeks.
Activity 2
Activity Slack time
t1 = 5 tt22 =
=11
Start
A1 0 t=0
End
A2 1 t=0
A3 1
A4 1 Activity 3 Activity 4 Activity5
A5 0 tA = 1 tA4 = 3 t5 = 2
Example

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Object-Oriented Software Engineering

Using UML, Patterns, and Java

Slack and Critical Path

 This means that if there is a delay in building or reviewing the

 PERT = Program Evaluation and Review Technique

Event (Milestone Event (Milestone

Milestone boxes are often highlighted by double-lines

 Compute the project duration

 Analyse the diagrams

 2 techniques are used

Critical path in bold face

 Earliest start date:

Task Immediate predecessors Time (weeks)

Activity Earliest Start(ES) Earliest Finish(EF)

Activity Latest Start(LS) Latest Finish(LF)

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