  A review of the characteristic features found in fully energy-damped,
binarydecay yields from light heavy-ion reactions with $20\leq A_{target} +
A_{projectile}\leq 80$ is presented. The different aspects of these yields that
have been used to support models of compound-nucleus (CN) fission and
deep-inelastic dinucleus orbiting are highlighted. Cross section calculations
based on the statistical phase space at different stages of the reaction are
presented and compared to the experimental results. Although the statistical
models are found to reproduce most of the observed experimental behaviors, an
additional reaction component corresponding to a heavy-ion resonance or
orbiting mechanism is also evident in certain systems. The system dependence of
this second component is discussed. The extent to which the binary yields in
very light systems $(A_{CN} \leq 32)$ can be viewed as resulting from a
fusion-fission mechanism is explored. A number of unresolved questions, such as
whether the different observed behaviors reflect characteristically different
reaction times, are discussed.
