4.

4 Software development

4.4.3 Project management

 Project Management:
• Project management is the discipline of
carefully projecting or planning, organizing,
motivating and controlling resources to
achieve specific goals and meet specific
success criteria.
• A project is a temporary endeavour designed
to produce a unique product, service or result
with a defined beginning and end.
 Project Management:
• Software project management is the art and
science of planning and leading software
projects.
• It is a sub-discipline of project management in
which software projects are planned,
implemented, monitored and controlled.
 Project Management:
• Large developments cannot be done by the
individuals and thus require software project
teams to manage the complex and tedious
endeavour.
 GANTT Chart
• A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed
as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L.
Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist.
• Frequently used in software project
management, a Gantt chart provides a graphical
illustration of a schedule that helps to plan,
coordinate, and track specific tasks in a project.
• Although now regarded as a common charting
technique, Gantt charts were considered
revolutionary when first introduced.
GANTT Chart
 GANTT Chart
• Gantt charts may be simple versions created
on graph paper or more complex automated
versions created using project management
applications such as Microsoft Project or
Excel.
 GANTT Chart
• A Gantt chart is constructed with a horizontal
axis representing the total time span of the
project, broken down into increments (for
example, days, weeks, or months) and a
vertical axis representing the tasks that make
up the project (for example, if the project is
outfitting your computer with new software,
the major tasks involved might be: conduct
research, choose software, install software).
 GANTT Chart
• Horizontal bars of varying lengths represent
the sequences, timing, and time span for each
task.
• Gantt charts give a clear illustration of project
status, but one problem with them is that they
don't indicate task dependencies - you cannot
tell how one task falling behind schedule
affects other tasks.
Reading a Gantt chart
 Figure 30.02 demonstrates the
following features:
• The horizontal axis represents time. In this
example the schedule is worked out in weekly
steps.
– This could be done on a daily or monthly basis,
depending on t he overall length of the project.
• Individual activities are shown as horizontal
bars, one activity per row.
 Figure 30.02 demonstrates the
following features:
• Activities can overlap.
– In this example, module testing can begin before
all the program code has been written . The
documentation can be started before all the
testing has been completed.
 Figure 30.02 demonstrates the
following features:
• Some activities can only begin when others
have been completed .
– In this example, integration testing can only start
after all modules have been successfully tested.
– Software can only be installed after integration
testing has been successfully completed .
 Gantt Chart
• If any activities take longer than planned, the
chart may need to be modified to represent
the revised schedule.
– For example, if serious problems are encountered
during acceptance testing, further design,
program coding, module testing and integration
testing may be required.
 PERT chart (Program Evaluation
Review Technique) definition
• A PERT chart is a project management tool
used to schedule, organize, and coordinate
tasks within a project.
• PERT stands for Program Evaluation Review
Technique, a methodology developed by the
U.S. Navy in the 1950s to manage the Polaris
submarine missile program.
 PERT chart (Program Evaluation
Review Technique) definition
• A similar methodology, the Critical Path
Method (CPM) was developed for project
management in the private sector at about
the same time.
 PERT Chart
• An activity may result in a document, a report
or some other building block of the project
Such a building block is called a deliverable.
• A milestone is a scheduled event signifying
the completion or submission of a deliverable.
 PERT chart
• A PERT chart presents a graphic illustration of
a project as a network diagram consisting of
numbered nodes (either circles or rectangles)
representing events, or milestones in the
project linked by labelled vectors (directional
lines) representing tasks in the project.
 PERT chart
• The direction of the arrows on the lines
indicates the sequence of tasks.
– In the diagram, for example, the tasks between
nodes 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10 must be completed in
sequence.
– These are called dependent or serial tasks.
 PERT chart
• The tasks between nodes 1 and 2, and nodes 1
and 3 are not dependent on the completion of
one to start the other and can be undertaken
simultaneously.
– These tasks are called parallel or concurrent
tasks.
 PERT chart
• Tasks that must be completed in sequence but that
don't require resources or completion time are
considered to have event dependency.
• These are represented by dotted lines with arrows and
are called dummy activities.
– For example, the dashed arrow linking nodes 6 and 9
indicates that the system files must be converted before
the user test can take place, but that the resources and
time required to prepare for the user test (writing the user
manual and user training) are on another path.
– Numbers on the opposite sides of the vectors indicate the
time allotted for the task.
 PERT chart
• The PERT chart is sometimes preferred over
the Gantt chart, another popular project
management charting method, because it
clearly illustrates task dependencies.
• On the other hand, the PERT chart can be
much more difficult to interpret, especially on
complex projects.
• Frequently, project managers use both
techniques.
 Reading a PERT chart
• A software developer is to produce software for a customer.
The activities, deliverables and milestones in Table 30.03 have
been identified.
 Figure 30.01 demonstrates the
following features:
• Milestones are shown as numbered nodes.

• Activities are represented by arrows linking

the milestones. The arrows are labelled with
the activity code below the arrow and the
duration above the arrow.
 Figure 30.01 demonstrates the
following features:
• Nodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 are joined
by solid arrows. These activities must be
completed in sequence; they are called
'dependent activities'.
 Figure 30.01 demonstrates the
following features:
• Activities that must be completed in sequence
but that don't require resources or completion
time are represented by dotted lines and are
called 'dummy activities'.
• The dotted line between milestones 3 and 4
indicates that the program modules must be
tested before software installation can begin,
but the time required to do t he testing is on
another path (path D).
 Critical path
• The critical path is the longest possible
continuous pathway from Start to Finish.
• It determines the shortest time required to
complete the project.
• Any time delays along the critical path will
delay the final milestone.
 Summary
• Project management use PERT charts and
Gantt charts to schedule project activities.
• PERT charts show activities, their duration and
milestones.
• A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart,
showing the individual activities including
their start and end times.