# Graph-Driven Exploration of Issue Handling Schemes in Software Projects
## 5 Experimental Results and Analysis
### Comment Sequences
The durations of sequences (CD) were reasonable, reaching 20 days for the third quartile (Q3(CD)); nevertheless, some issues involved over several hundred days. Comment sequences in states are merged in issue handling paths. They are characterized by APC(P\({}_{\text{r}}\)) profiles (7c). In the considered MongoDB project, we found 838 unique paths of handling bugs (with lengths of 1-27 states), among which 251 paths handled 2 or more issues, 20 dominant paths covered 6338 issues out of a total of 8405 (75.4%), and their length range was 1-7. Below, we present a sample of the derived statistics (each specified path is followed by issue coverage):  
APC(_Needs Verification,Open,In Progress,In Code Review,Closed_--2752 issues) = {1, <fixx>, 1996; 2, <information, fixx> 152; 2, <fixx,fixx>, 141; 2, <positive, fixx>, 41; 3, <fix,fix,fixx>, 27; 3, <information, information, fixx> 25; 2, <question,fixx> 20; 3, <question, infor, fixx> 16; 1, <information> 16, other sequences (122) with length below 10 and dominating 1-2 issues)--Q3(HT)--19.8 days  
APC(_Needs Verification,Open,In Progress,In Code Review,Needs Merge,Closed_--654 issues) = {1, <fixx> 437; 2, <fixx> 43; 2, <information fixx> 38; 2, <positive, fixx> 22; 2, <information,fixx> 10; others dominating 1 issue, 49 comment sequences], Q3(HT)--18.9 days  
APC(_Needs Verification,Closed_--442 issues) = {1, <information> 51; 1, <fixx> 48; 1, <positive> 16; 12 comment sequences], Q3(HT)--11 days. The presented distribution of the comment sequences is restricted to the most populated paths, and the remaining paths are summarized. Moreover, we added the Q3 quartile of path handling times (HT). APC(P\({}_{\text{r}}\)) profiles are the consequence of APC(S\({}_{\text{r}}\)) profiles (with some concatenation effect) with longer sequences and higher duration times. Nevertheless, short sequences are dominant, and the CD duration is acceptable. In longer sequences, we observed the repetition of _fix_ and _information_ comments. Repetitions of _fix_ comments indicate higher effort in correcting the bug, suggesting that such issues could be partitioned into smaller parts. Long sequences could be analyzed to explain the reasons for these bugs and to suggest improvements in reporting to obtain more precise problem descriptions (which are helpful in diagnosis). Intensive commenting may result from misunderstandings between users and developers. In the case of short issue handling paths, comments can describe more processing details. In the presented profile APC(_Needs Verification,Closed_), the path structure does not reflect processing activities, so it can be considered as being too simplified with information deficit. We can search for this information in the relevant comments. In the considered case, only 53.6% of issues comprised comments (27.8% of these comments related to the fix category, which was the dominant information category). However, a significant percentage of issues were not commented upon (deficiency of reporting). Such analysis allowed us to improve issue handling in a commercial project by presenting and discussing our analysis results with project testers and developers and setting out precise requirements for commenting and reporting by the users. The proposed profiles facilitate assessing comment activities, their significance, and the impact of issue handling processes. We can identify sources of excessive commenting sequences and their impact on issue resolution processes. They can be correlated with project actor fluctuations, lacking professional competence or experience, and thus trigger possible improvements.