Hands-On Software Engineering Project - Software Engineering: A Hands-On Approach - page 256

are to document their code. This should not prohibit them from writing in a style
that is understandable by users and other engineers.

13.1.3 Time and Resource Management

Software development, like any other complex and lengthy undertaking, requires
planning, analysis and review. There are a couple of techniques that have been in
use for over half a century that apply particularly well to software engineering, the
critical path method (CPM), and program evaluation and review technique
(PERT). These methods rely on the information acquired during project planning
such as estimates of effort, the decomposition of product function and the selection
of task sets (Stiller and LeBlanc 2002 ). Using PERT/CPM the project manager can
calculate the following (Stiller and LeBlanc 2002 ):

• The critical path. The critical path is the sequence of events that determines the
maximum time for project completion.
• Create time models for tasks, based upon statistical models.
• Formulate boundary times. Boundary times are the earliest a task can begin and
the latest it can end without disrupting the flow of the development process.

The information described above is graphically represented in a PERT/CPM
schedule. A PERT/CPM schedule represents a task as a box containing a name and
a number. The name is the task name and the number is the time required in man
units to complete the task. Tasks are connected by either a line indicating pro-
gression or a double line which would indicate the critical path. The following
example is a partial PERT/CPM derived from ''Project Based Software Engi-
neering'' by Stiller and LeBlanc (Stiller and LeBlanc 2002 ) (Fig. 13.1 ).

13.1.3.1 Gantt Charts and N 2

Gantt charts are a great way to demonstrate the flow of the project and to show the
duration and endowment of tasks to teams or individuals. Gantt charts, however,

3 5 4

Code Game2D
Client Listener

Code Cell Game2D Client

2 6 5 3

Code Game2D
Server

Code Game2D
Server Listener

Code Game2D
Initiator

Code Timer

Fig. 13.1 PERT/CPM schedule network for Game2D (Stiller and LeBlanc 2002 )