As developers or testers, we frequently have the need to test our systems. In this process, be it unit testing, integration testing, or any other form of testing, the data is often the leading and deciding factor. But getting access to good data isn't always easy. Sometimes the data is quite sensitive, like medical or financial data. At other times, there's not enough data (for example, when attempting a load test), or sometimes the data you're looking for is hard to find. For cases like the above, there's a solution, called Datafaker.
Datafaker is a library for the JVM suitable to generate production-like fake data. This data can be generated as part of your unit tests or can be generated in the form of external files, such as CSV or JSON files, so it can serve as the input to other systems. This article will show you what Datafaker is, what it can do, and how you can use it in an effective way to improve your testing strategy.