What are preconditions in testing?

Preconditions in testing refer to the environmental and state conditions that must be established before executing a test. These conditions ensure that the testing environment is set up correctly and that any necessary dependencies, configurations, or initial states are in place so that the test can run effectively and yield meaningful results.

By defining preconditions, testers can identify the baseline requirements that need to be satisfied for a test case to execute successfully. This could involve specific configurations of the software, access to certain data, or the presence of particular conditions that must be true during the test. Ensuring that these preconditions are met is crucial for the reliability and repeatability of testing, as they help minimize external variability that could affect the outcomes of the tests.

The other options discuss different aspects of the testing process: requirements refer to what needs to be tested, anticipated results focus on expected outcomes from running tests, and limitations address constraints that affect testing. While these are important components of the overall testing strategy, they do not define preconditions directly.