Critical path

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In project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network terminal elements with the longest overall duration, determining the shortest time to complete the project.

The duration of the critical path determines the duration of the entire project. Any delay of a terminal element on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path).

A project can have several, parallel critical paths. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations just shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical path.

Originally, the critical path method considered only logical dependencies among terminal elements. A related concept is the critical chain, which adds resource dependencies.

The critical path method (CPM) was invented by the DuPont corporation during the 1950's.

See also

• List of project management topics
• PERT
• Project
• Project management
• Project planning
• Work breakdown structurede:Methode des kritischen Pfades

es:Método de la ruta crítica it:Diagramma CPM nl:Kritieke pad pl:CPM zh:关键路径