JUnit 4.0 introduces the @BeforeClass annotation, providing a way to run a class-wide setup method before any of the tests in that class are run. The analogous @AfterClass annotation allows for tear down of those fixtures. I work on a project that hasn’t yet upgraded to JUnit 4.0, and although less widely publicized, it is possible to accomplish the same thing with 3.8.x.

Think before doing this. Tests should be independent of one another. If your tests share fixtures, side effects from one test could affect the results of others. Sometimes, however, a test fixture is just too expensive to set up and tear down with every test. In my case, I needed to set up a database and import a substantial quantity of data. Doing this for every test would’ve made the suite prohibitively slow.
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I’ve taken configuration management and revision control for granted. I first lost work because I wasn’t using a repository system early in life, and I resolved that such a thing would not happen again. During my senior year in college, I was working on a project with a randomly assigned classmate. When we started, I explained I’d set up a CVS repository for the code and gave him the directory for CVSROOT. Next time we met, he told me he didn’t have any trouble finding the code, but asked why the file names had commas and a couple random letters at the end of them. In retrospect, it was wrong of me to laugh, but I honestly thought he was making a joke with a deadpan delivery. When I walk onto a project, I can make an educated guess about how it’s going to go based on how much work it takes to get up and running with the SCM and build system.
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