Software Project Management
Planning and tracking a project
Project management ensures software is delivered on time, within budget and to the required quality. Candidates must understand the project plan, including scope, milestones, deliverables, resources and timelines, and the use of Gantt charts (show task duration and sequence over time) and critical path thinking (the longest chain of dependent tasks determines the minimum project length). Learn risk management - identify, assess likelihood and impact, then mitigate - and change management for handling scope creep.
Teams, quality and documentation
Understand team roles and communication, and the purpose of version control and backups. Know the types of testing (unit, integration, system, acceptance) and the role of documentation (user, technical, internal). Be able to explain evaluation criteria for judging whether a solution meets its requirements.
Traps to watch
A frequent trap is confusing a Gantt chart (timing and sequence) with a structure chart (program modules) or a PERT chart (dependencies). Another is treating testing as a single phase rather than ongoing. Questions often ask why a project failed - look for unrealistic scope, poor communication or missing risk planning, and justify with evidence from the scenario.
Worked example
If task A takes 3 days, B takes 4 days and depends on A, and C takes 2 days and also depends on A, the critical path is A→B at 7 days, not A→C at 5 days. Rule of thumb: the critical path is the longest path through dependent tasks, and any delay on it delays the whole project.