How to Generate Fake Data Using Python

Introduction

During application development, we often need data to populate different fields such as usernames, barcodes, ssn, and many more just for testing. In this tutorial, we will be looking at how to generate fake data using Python.

Install module

To begin we first need to install a module called Faker which will be used to generate fake data. To install the module run the command below on your terminal.

pip3 install Faker

Start

Now let’s create a file called main.py and write the code below.

from faker import Faker 

# Create a Faker instance
fake = Faker()

Generate fake name

print("Name: ", fake.name())

Output

Name:  Erica Drake

Generate fake address

print("Address: ", fake.address())

Output

Address:  847 Cline Lake Suite 995

Generate fake text

print("Text: ", fake.text())

Output

Text:  As environment could large base would western. Something surface best others.
Say citizen accept common face. Statement mouth sell far read. Rule kitchen he girl week enough science system.

Generate fake sentence

print("Sentence: ", fake.sentence())

Output

Sentence:  Responsibility month media part team matter.

Generate fake job

print("Job: ", fake.job())

Output

Job:  Nurse, children's

Generate co-ordinates

print("Coordinate: ", fake.coordinate())

Output

Coordinate:  -117.317459

Generate fake file extension

print("File extension: ", fake.file_extension())

Output

File extension:  wav

Generate fake ISBN

print("ISBN: ", fake.isbn10())

Output

ISBN:  0-224-76529-9

Generate first male name

print("First name (male): ", fake.first_name_male())

Output

First name (male):  Brian

Generate the last female name

print("Last name (female): ", fake.last_name_female())

Output

Last name (female):  Carney

Generate SSN number

print("SSN: ", fake.ssn())

Output

SSN:  807-89-0204

Generate cryptocurrency

print("Cryptocurrency: ", fake.cryptocurrency())

Output

Cryptocurrency:  ('PPC', 'Peercoin')

Generate barcode

print("Barcode: ", fake.ean(length=13))

Output

Barcode:  5708179696967

Generate fake license plate

print("License plate: ", fake.license_plate())

Output

License plate:  KMC-557

There you have it, you can generate more data categories using the module, feel free to check the official documentation here. Thanks for reading. Happy Coding.