Definitions
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
11:28 AM
CPM Definitions
Duration: how long it takes to do a task. 
Earliest start time: earliest time a task can be started = max of earliest completion times for prerequisites. 
Latest start time: latest time a task can be started and still finish with minimum completion time for project.
Earliest completion time: earliest start time + task duration. 
Latest completion time: latest start time + task duration. 
Slack time: latest completion time - earliest completion time = latest start time - earliest start time. 
A task is critical if its earliest start time is its latest start time, i.e., slack time = 0!
Changing the time of a critical task changes overall behavior.