Scheduling and Tracking

Scheduling and Tracking

Software project scheduling is an activity that distributes estimated effort across the planed project duration by allocating the effort to specific software engineering tasks.

First, a macroscopic schedule is developed.

---> a detailed schedule is redefined for each entry in the macroscopic schedule.

A schedule evolves over time.

Basic principles guide software project scheduling:

- Compartmentalization

- Interdependency

- Time allocation

- Effort allocation

- Effort validation

- Defined responsibilities

- Defined outcomes

- Defined milestones

There is no single set of tasks that is appropriate for all projects.

An effective software process should define a collection of task sets, each

designed to meet the needs of different types of projects.

A task set is a collection of software engineering work

-> tasks, milestones, and deliverables.

Tasks sets are designed to accommodate different types of projects and different degrees of rigor.

Typical project types:

- Concept Development Projects

- New Application Development Projects

- Application Enhancement Projects

- Application Maintenance Projects

- Reengineering Projects

Degree of Rigor:

- Casual

- Structured

- Strict

- Quick Reaction

Obta

Defining Adaptation Criteria:

-- This is used to determine the recommended degree of rigor.

Eleven criteria are defined for software projects:

- Size of the project

- Number of potential users

- Mission criticality

- Application longevity

- Ease of customer/developer communication

- Maturity of applicable technology

- Performance constraints

- Embedded/non-embedded characteristics

- Project staffing

- Reengineering factors

Individual tasks and subtasks have interdependencies based on their sequence.

A task network is a graphic representation of the task flow for a project.

Figure 7.3 shows a schematic network for a concept development project.

Critical path:

-- the tasks on a critical path must be completed on schedule to make the whole

project on schedule.

Scheduling of a software project does not differ greatly from scheduling of any multitask

engineering effort.

Two project scheduling methods:

- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

- Critical Path Method (CPM)

Both methods are driven by information developed in earlier project planning activities:

- Estimates of effort

- A decomposition of product function

- The selection of the appropriate process model

- The selection of project type and task set Both methods allow a planer to do:

- determine the critical path

- time estimation

- calculate boundary times for each task Boundary times:

- the earliest time and latest time to begin a task

- the earliest time and latest time to complete a task

- the total float.