Introduction

The completed project Gantt chart, laid out by hand on graph paper or, more likely, laid out using project management software, displays a sequence of tasks that have the characteristics of stair steps descending from start to finish. Within this display is a sequence of tasks where each successive task depends upon its immediate predecessor and starts as soon as this longest predecessor is completed. There is no time break in this sequence.

This sequence is called the critical path. It is a string of dependent tasks that have the longest duration. Generally, there is only one critical path through a project. Occasionally, there is more than one, however. The critical path identifies the amount of time that is required to complete ...

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