Which schedule development tool and technique produces a theoretical early start date and late start date?

Question

Options

• ACritical path method
• BVariance analysis
• CSchedule compression
• DSchedule comparison bar charts

• A
  74% (14)
• B
  5% (1)
• C
  5% (1)
• D
  16% (3)

Explanation

Critical Path Method (CPM) is the scheduling technique that performs a forward pass to calculate the theoretical Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) dates, then a backward pass to calculate the Late Start (LS) and Late Finish (LF) dates - the float between early and late dates reveals which activities are on the critical path.

Variance analysis (B) compares planned vs. actual performance after the fact; it measures schedule deviations but doesn't calculate start dates. Schedule compression (C) - crashing or fast-tracking - shortens the schedule duration but doesn't produce early/late dates; it's applied after CPM has already run. Schedule comparison bar charts (D) (like Gantt charts with baseline overlays) visually display dates but are an output/reporting tool, not a calculation technique.

Memory tip: Think of CPM as a two-pass calculator - it sweeps forward (earliest possible dates) then backward (latest allowable dates). If the question mentions calculating theoretical early or late dates, CPM is always the answer.

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