Fixed #20392 -- Added TestCase.setUpTestData()

Each TestCase is also now wrapped in a class-wide transaction.

docs/releases/1.8.txt

@@ -507,6 +507,10 @@ Tests
 * The :func:`~django.test.override_settings` decorator can now affect the
   master router in :setting:`DATABASE_ROUTERS`.
 
+* Added the ability to setup test data at the class level using
+  :meth:`TestCase.setUpTestData() <django.test.TestCase.setUpTestData>`. Using
+  this technique can speed up the tests as compared to using ``setUp()``.
+
 Validators
 ^^^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -743,6 +747,14 @@ The new package is available `on Github`_ and on PyPI.
 
 .. _on GitHub: https://github.com/django/django-formtools/
 
+Database connection reloading between tests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Django previously closed database connections between each test within a
+``TestCase``. This is no longer the case as Django now wraps the whole
+``TestCase`` within a transaction. If some of your tests relied on the old
+behavior, you should have them inherit from ``TransactionTestCase`` instead.
+
 Miscellaneous
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

docs/topics/testing/tools.txt

@@ -691,13 +691,45 @@ additions, including:
 
 * Automatic loading of fixtures.
 
-* Wraps each test in a transaction.
+* Wraps the tests within two nested ``atomic`` blocks: one for the whole class
+  and one for each test.
 
 * Creates a TestClient instance.
 
 * Django-specific assertions for testing for things like redirection and form
   errors.
 
+.. classmethod:: TestCase.setUpTestData()
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.8
+
+    The class-level ``atomic`` block described above allows the creation of
+    initial data at the class level, once for the whole ``TestCase``. This
+    technique allows for faster tests as compared to using ``setUp()``.
+
+    For example::
+
+        from django.test import TestCase
+
+        class MyTests(TestCase):
+            @classmethod
+            def setUpTestData(cls):
+                # Set up data for the whole TestCase
+                cls.foo = Foo.objects.create(bar="Test")
+                ...
+
+            def test1(self):
+                # Some test using self.foo
+                ...
+
+            def test2(self):
+                # Some other test using self.foo
+                ...
+
+    Note that if the tests are run on a database with no transaction support
+    (for instance, MySQL with the MyISAM engine), ``setUpTestData()`` will be
+    called before each test, negating the speed benefits.
+
 .. warning::
 
     If you want to test some specific database transaction behavior, you should