Although the terms are often used as synonyms they are not the same. A Gantt chart is a specific type of bar chart. Gantt did not invent the bar chart, the concept of bar charts pre-date Gantt's work by at least a century. The erroneous description of a bar chat as a Gantt chart and the belief that Gantt invented the bar chart probably results from the decision of Microsoft, in 1984/1985, to misname the bar chart view in its scheduling tool Microsoft Project as a Gantt chart. See 'Where did the Misuse of the names Gantt and PERT Originate?'. P Weaver. PM World Journal, Vol. II, Issue IV, (April 2013).