In JIRA, an issue can represent any number of things. In fact, an issue in a given project may mean something that is very different in another project. So what an issue really is depends on the context of what project it is in, and how you choose to define and use JIRA. For example, an issue in a normal software development project would often represent a software bug, while in a help desk project it can represent a support request.
Despite all the different objects an issue can represent, there are a number of key aspects that are common for all issues in JIRA, as follows:
An issue must belong to a project.
It must have a type, otherwise known as an issue type, which indicates what the issue is representing.
It must have a summary. The summary acts like a one-line description of what the issue is about.
It must have a status. A status indicates where along the workflow the issue is at a given time. We will discuss workflows in Chapter 6, Workflows and Business Processes...