Generating fake test data

Part of the testing and debugging process involves incorporating realistic test data. In some cases, especially when testing database access and producing benchmarks, large amounts of test data are needed. One way in which this can be accomplished is to incorporate a process of scraping data from websites, and then putting the data together in realistic, yet random, combinations to be inserted into a database.

How to do it...

1. The first step is to determine what data is needed in order to test your application. Another consideration is dose the website address an international audience, or will the market be primarily from a single country?
2. In order to produce a consistent fake data tool, it's extremely important to move the data from its source into a usable digital format. The first choice is a series of database tables. Another, not as attractive, alternative is a CSV file.
3. You may end up converting the data in stages. For example, you could pull data from a...