allotteddepends

Allotteddepends is a concept used in dependency management and task scheduling to indicate the subset of a task's dependencies that must be satisfied within the task's allocated time and resources. The term combines allotted, meaning allocated or assigned, with depends, referring to dependencies. It distinguishes between dependencies that are essential to begin or progress a task within its time window and those that are optional or can be deferred without delaying the task's completion.

In practice, allotteddepends is represented as a set or list attached to a task in a project plan or build system. A scheduler uses allotteddepends to determine when to allocate resources, trigger parallel work, or proceed with partial execution if non-allotted dependencies are unavailable. It can help manage risk by highlighting which prerequisites are time-constrained and which can be postponed.

Relation to other concepts: all dependencies are often divided into hard dependencies and optional or soft ones. Allotteddepends corresponds to hard dependencies constrained by the task's time box, whereas non-allotted dependencies may be addressed later. This concept is related to critical path analysis, time boxing, and resource leveling.

Limitations: In dynamic environments, the set of allotteddepends may change as estimates are refined. Systems may need to handle failure cases when any allotteddep is not met by its deadline, potentially triggering task rescheduling or escalation.

Examples: A software feature task has an allotteddepends set including the latest build artifact, a passing unit test suite, and code reviews, all required within two days. External API availability would be non-allotted and scheduled later.