Sonoma State University
Department of Computer Science
CS-370: Software Design and Development
Exercise 5: Creating a PERT chart

OBJECTIVE

To create a PERT chart from a given set of tasks with dependencies.

The exercise:

The following table contains a list of tasks and dependencies for the fictitious World of Z-Craft Project.

• The first column labeled "TASK" contains a list of tasks. Each task is labeled by a unique letter beginning with "A".
• The second column labeled "TIME (DAYS)" indicates the estimated amount of time (in days) for the task to be completed.
• The third column labeled "PREDECESSOR" indicates any dependency tasks (referenced by letter) from other rows that must be completed before the current task (indicated in first column of the row) is completed.

TASK	TIME (DAYS)	PREDECESSOR
A. Robotic control module	5	none
B. Texture library	5	C
C. Texture editor	4	none
D. Character editor	6	A, G, I
E. Character animator	7	D
F. Artificial Intelligence (for zombies)	7	none
G. Rendering engine	6	none
H. Humanoid base classes	3	none
I. Character classes	3	H
J. Zombie classes	3	H
K. Test environment	5	L
L. Test environment editor	6	C, G
M. Character library	9	B, E, I
N. Zombie library	15	B, J, O
O. Zombie editor	5	A, G, J
P. Zombie animator	6	O
Q. Character testing	4	K, M
R. Zombie testing	4	K, N

Creating PERT charts:

I suggest creating your PERT chart using pencil and paper. You can then use your smart-phone to take a picture of your completed diagram to upload to Canvas. Alternately, you may use diagram software on your computer.

Uploading your solution:

Please upload a PERT chart in either PDF (Acrobat) format or as a PNG format image file.

Grading Rubric

CRITERIA	RATINGS				POINTS
PERT chart: An illustrated PERT chart	Excellent 4 points An illustrated PERT chart contains tasks A through R. The tasks are linked together with arrows. The chart begins with "BEGIN" or "START" and ends with "END" or "FINISH". Each chart task is labeled by its letter, the name of the task, and the estimated time to complete that task (e.g. "A. Robotic control module. 5 days", "B. Texture library. 5 days", "C. Texture editor. 4 days", etc.).	Satisfactory 2.8 points An illustrated PERT chart contains most of the tasks A through R. The tasks are linked together with arrows. Three or fewer tasks are missing from the PERT chart; OR the chart tasks are labeled only with letters (e.g. "A", "B", "C", etc.) instead of letters, name of task, and estimated time (e.g. "A. Robotic control module. 5 days", "B. Texture library. 5 days", "C. Texture editor. 4 days", etc.).	Needs Improvement 2.4 points An illustrated PERT chart contains some of the tasks A through R. The tasks are linked together with arrows. Between four and six (inclusive) tasks are missing from the PERT chart.	Below Expectations 0 points No PERT chart was submitted; OR the PERT chart is missing seven or more tasks.	4 points
Dependencies: The dependencies on the PERT chart	Excellent 6 points The tasks are drawn such that all predecessor tasks (dependencies) are arranged before dependent tasks when traversing the graph (following the arrow diagram from the beginning to the end). All dependencies are accounted for (i.e. no missing dependencies).	Satisfactory 4.2 points The tasks are drawn such that most predecessor tasks are organized before dependent tasks when traversing the graph (following the arrow diagram from the beginning to the end). There are three or fewer dependency errors in the PERT chart.	Needs improvement 3.6 points The tasks are drawn such that some predecessor tasks are organized before dependent tasks when traversing the graph (following the arrow diagram from the beginning to the end). There are between four and six (inclusive) dependency errors in the PERT chart.	Below Expectations 0 points No PERT chart was submitted; OR PERT chart contains seven or more dependency errors.	6 points
Total points: 10