Annotation Type Before

@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Target(METHOD)
public @interface Before

When writing tests, it is common to find that several tests need similar objects created before they can run. Annotating a public void method with @Before causes that method to be run before the Test method. The @Before methods of superclasses will be run before those of the current class, unless they are overridden in the current class. No other ordering is defined.

Here is a simple example:

 public class Example {
    List empty;
    @Before public void initialize() {
       empty= new ArrayList();
    }
    @Test public void size() {
       ...
    }
    @Test public void remove() {
       ...
    }
 }