Using contexts similarity to predict relationships between tasks

Developers' tasks are often interrelated. A task might succeed, precede, block, or depend on another task. Or, two tasks might simply have a similar aim or require similar expertise. When working on tasks, developers interact with artifacts and tools, which constitute the contexts of the tasks. This work investigates the extent to which the similarity of the contexts predicts whether and how the respective tasks are related. The underlying assumption is simple: if during two tasks the same artifacts are touched or similar interactions are observed, the tasks might be interrelated.