faker vs chance vs casual vs random-words vs mockjs
JavaScript Data Generation Libraries Comparison
1 Year
fakerchancecasualrandom-wordsmockjsSimilar Packages:
What's JavaScript Data Generation Libraries?

These libraries are designed to generate random data for various purposes, such as testing, prototyping, and populating databases. They provide developers with tools to create realistic data sets quickly, which can be crucial for testing applications without relying on real user data. Each library has its unique features and capabilities, catering to different needs and preferences in data generation.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
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Package
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faker1,869,454-10.1 MB--MIT
chance1,497,6516,5102.13 MB1767 months agoMIT
casual155,4713,021-426 years agoMIT
random-words80,18225546.1 kB11a year agoMIT
mockjs49,54319,569-3405 years ago-
Feature Comparison: faker vs chance vs casual vs random-words vs mockjs

Data Variety

  • faker:

    Faker excels in generating a wide range of realistic data types, including names, addresses, company information, and even financial data. It is particularly useful for applications needing detailed and realistic datasets.

  • chance:

    Chance offers a broad spectrum of data types, from basic strings and numbers to more complex types like dates and custom distributions. This makes it versatile for various testing scenarios.

  • casual:

    Casual provides a limited but useful range of data types, focusing on everyday items like names, addresses, and dates. It is ideal for generating simple datasets quickly without extensive configuration.

  • random-words:

    Random Words focuses solely on generating random words or phrases, making it straightforward and lightweight. It is best suited for applications that require simple text data.

  • mockjs:

    Mock.js allows you to define complex data structures and generate data that adheres to those structures. This feature is particularly beneficial for simulating API responses and testing front-end applications.

Customization

  • faker:

    Faker allows for some customization, especially in formatting and data types, but it is primarily designed to generate realistic data without extensive configuration.

  • chance:

    Chance provides extensive customization options, allowing you to define your own data distributions and types. This flexibility is ideal for developers needing specific data characteristics.

  • casual:

    Casual offers minimal customization options, focusing on ease of use and quick data generation. It is suitable for developers who prefer simplicity over configurability.

  • random-words:

    Random Words has limited customization options, focusing on generating random words without additional features. It is straightforward and easy to use.

  • mockjs:

    Mock.js offers high customization through its ability to define data templates and structures. This makes it particularly powerful for developers needing tailored mock data for testing.

Ease of Use

  • faker:

    Faker is user-friendly and well-documented, making it easy for developers to get started quickly. Its comprehensive API is intuitive for generating realistic data.

  • chance:

    Chance has a moderate learning curve, with a straightforward API that allows for easy data generation once you understand its features.

  • casual:

    Casual is designed for simplicity and ease of use, making it an excellent choice for developers who want to quickly generate random data without a steep learning curve.

  • random-words:

    Random Words is extremely easy to use, with a simple API that allows for quick random word generation without any setup.

  • mockjs:

    Mock.js has a slightly steeper learning curve due to its templating system, but it is well-documented, making it manageable for developers familiar with API design.

Performance

  • faker:

    Faker can generate large amounts of data, but performance may vary depending on the complexity of the data being generated. It is generally efficient for most use cases.

  • chance:

    Chance is efficient and can handle larger datasets without significant performance issues, making it suitable for more extensive testing scenarios.

  • casual:

    Casual performs well for generating small datasets quickly, but may not be optimized for generating large volumes of data due to its simplicity.

  • random-words:

    Random Words is lightweight and performs exceptionally well for generating random words, making it suitable for applications that require minimal overhead.

  • mockjs:

    Mock.js is optimized for generating structured mock data and can handle complex data generation efficiently, making it ideal for simulating API responses.

Community and Support

  • faker:

    Faker has a large and active community, providing extensive documentation, examples, and support, making it a reliable choice for developers.

  • chance:

    Chance has a moderate community with decent support and documentation, making it easier to find help and examples online.

  • casual:

    Casual has a smaller community compared to others, which may result in limited support and fewer resources available for troubleshooting.

  • random-words:

    Random Words has a smaller community, but its simplicity means that most developers can quickly understand and implement it without extensive support.

  • mockjs:

    Mock.js has a growing community and good documentation, which helps developers implement it effectively in their projects.

How to Choose: faker vs chance vs casual vs random-words vs mockjs
  • faker:

    Opt for Faker if you need a comprehensive library that mimics real-world data closely. It is particularly useful for generating realistic names, addresses, and other personal information, making it ideal for applications that require a high level of detail in the data.

  • chance:

    Select Chance if you require a more extensive set of data generation capabilities, including complex data types and custom distributions. Chance offers a wide variety of options and is great for generating random data in a more controlled manner.

  • casual:

    Choose Casual if you need a simple and straightforward library for generating random data without too much configuration. It is particularly useful for generating casual data types like names, addresses, and dates quickly.

  • random-words:

    Choose Random Words if your primary need is to generate random words or phrases. This library is lightweight and straightforward, making it suitable for applications that require simple text generation.

  • mockjs:

    Use Mock.js if you are looking to create mock data for APIs. It allows you to define data structures and generate data that matches those structures, making it perfect for front-end development and testing without a backend.

README for faker

faker.js - generate massive amounts of fake data in the browser and node.js

Faker.js

Build Status Coverage Status

npm version

OpenCollective OpenCollective Gitter chat

Demo

https://rawgit.com/Marak/faker.js/master/examples/browser/index.html

Faker Cloud

Don't have a local development setup ready?

Try our hosted version of Faker at https://fakercloud.com/api

https://github.com/faker/faker-cloud

Usage

Browser

    <script src = "faker.js" type = "text/javascript"></script>
    <script>
      var randomName = faker.name.findName(); // Caitlyn Kerluke
      var randomEmail = faker.internet.email(); // Rusty@arne.info
      var randomCard = faker.helpers.createCard(); // random contact card containing many properties
    </script>

Node.js

    var faker = require('faker');

    var randomName = faker.name.findName(); // Rowan Nikolaus
    var randomEmail = faker.internet.email(); // Kassandra.Haley@erich.biz
    var randomCard = faker.helpers.createCard(); // random contact card containing many properties

API

JSDoc API Browser

http://marak.github.io/faker.js/

API Methods

  • address
    • zipCode
    • zipCodeByState
    • city
    • cityPrefix
    • citySuffix
    • cityName
    • streetName
    • streetAddress
    • streetSuffix
    • streetPrefix
    • secondaryAddress
    • county
    • country
    • countryCode
    • state
    • stateAbbr
    • latitude
    • longitude
    • direction
    • cardinalDirection
    • ordinalDirection
    • nearbyGPSCoordinate
    • timeZone
  • animal
    • dog
    • cat
    • snake
    • bear
    • lion
    • cetacean
    • horse
    • bird
    • cow
    • fish
    • crocodilia
    • insect
    • rabbit
    • type
  • commerce
    • color
    • department
    • productName
    • price
    • productAdjective
    • productMaterial
    • product
    • productDescription
  • company
    • suffixes
    • companyName
    • companySuffix
    • catchPhrase
    • bs
    • catchPhraseAdjective
    • catchPhraseDescriptor
    • catchPhraseNoun
    • bsAdjective
    • bsBuzz
    • bsNoun
  • database
    • column
    • type
    • collation
    • engine
  • datatype
    • number
    • float
    • datetime
    • string
    • uuid
    • boolean
    • hexaDecimal
    • json
    • array
  • date
    • past
    • future
    • between
    • betweens
    • recent
    • soon
    • month
    • weekday
  • fake
  • finance
    • account
    • accountName
    • routingNumber
    • mask
    • amount
    • transactionType
    • currencyCode
    • currencyName
    • currencySymbol
    • bitcoinAddress
    • litecoinAddress
    • creditCardNumber
    • creditCardCVV
    • ethereumAddress
    • iban
    • bic
    • transactionDescription
  • git
    • branch
    • commitEntry
    • commitMessage
    • commitSha
    • shortSha
  • hacker
    • abbreviation
    • adjective
    • noun
    • verb
    • ingverb
    • phrase
  • helpers
    • randomize
    • slugify
    • replaceSymbolWithNumber
    • replaceSymbols
    • replaceCreditCardSymbols
    • repeatString
    • regexpStyleStringParse
    • shuffle
    • mustache
    • createCard
    • contextualCard
    • userCard
    • createTransaction
  • image
    • image
    • avatar
    • imageUrl
    • abstract
    • animals
    • business
    • cats
    • city
    • food
    • nightlife
    • fashion
    • people
    • nature
    • sports
    • technics
    • transport
    • dataUri
    • lorempixel
    • unsplash
    • lorempicsum
  • internet
    • avatar
    • email
    • exampleEmail
    • userName
    • protocol
    • httpMethod
    • url
    • domainName
    • domainSuffix
    • domainWord
    • ip
    • ipv6
    • port
    • userAgent
    • color
    • mac
    • password
  • lorem
    • word
    • words
    • sentence
    • slug
    • sentences
    • paragraph
    • paragraphs
    • text
    • lines
  • mersenne
    • rand
    • seed
    • seed_array
  • music
    • genre
  • name
    • firstName
    • lastName
    • middleName
    • findName
    • jobTitle
    • gender
    • prefix
    • suffix
    • title
    • jobDescriptor
    • jobArea
    • jobType
  • phone
    • phoneNumber
    • phoneNumberFormat
    • phoneFormats
  • random
    • number
    • float
    • arrayElement
    • arrayElements
    • objectElement
    • uuid
    • boolean
    • word
    • words
    • image
    • locale
    • alpha
    • alphaNumeric
    • hexaDecimal
  • system
    • fileName
    • commonFileName
    • mimeType
    • commonFileType
    • commonFileExt
    • fileType
    • fileExt
    • directoryPath
    • filePath
    • semver
  • time
    • recent
  • unique
  • vehicle
    • vehicle
    • manufacturer
    • model
    • type
    • fuel
    • vin
    • color
    • vrm
    • bicycle

Faker.fake()

faker.js contains a super useful generator method Faker.fake for combining faker API methods using a mustache string format.

Example:

console.log(faker.fake("{{name.lastName}}, {{name.firstName}} {{name.suffix}}"));
// outputs: "Marks, Dean Sr."

This will interpolate the format string with the value of methods name.lastName(), name.firstName(), and name.suffix()

Localization

As of version v2.0.0 faker.js has support for multiple localities.

The default language locale is set to English.

Setting a new locale is simple:

// sets locale to de
faker.locale = "de";
  • az
  • ar
  • cz
  • de
  • de_AT
  • de_CH
  • en
  • en_AU
  • en_AU_ocker
  • en_BORK
  • en_CA
  • en_GB
  • en_IE
  • en_IND
  • en_US
  • en_ZA
  • es
  • es_MX
  • fa
  • fi
  • fr
  • fr_CA
  • fr_CH
  • ge
  • hy
  • hr
  • id_ID
  • it
  • ja
  • ko
  • nb_NO
  • ne
  • nl
  • nl_BE
  • pl
  • pt_BR
  • pt_PT
  • ro
  • ru
  • sk
  • sv
  • tr
  • uk
  • vi
  • zh_CN
  • zh_TW

Individual Localization Packages

faker.js supports incremental loading of locales.

By default, requiring faker will include all locale data.

In a production environment, you may only want to include the locale data for a specific set of locales.

// loads only de locale
var faker = require('faker/locale/de');

Setting a randomness seed

If you want consistent results, you can set your own seed:

faker.seed(123);

var firstRandom = faker.datatype.number();

// Setting the seed again resets the sequence.
faker.seed(123);

var secondRandom = faker.datatype.number();

console.log(firstRandom === secondRandom);

Tests

npm install .
make test

You can view a code coverage report generated in coverage/lcov-report/index.html.

Building faker.js

faker uses gulp to automate its build process. Each build operation is a separate task which can be run independently.

Browser Bundle

npm run browser

Building JSDocs

JSDOC v3 HTML API documentation

npm run jsdoc

Building ReadMe

The ReadMe.md file for faker.js is automatically generated and should not be modified directly. All updates to ReadMe.md should be performed in ./build/src/docs.md and then the build script should be run.

npm run readme

Version Release Schedule

faker.js is a popular project used by many organizations and individuals in production settings. Major and Minor version releases are generally on a monthly schedule. Bugs fixes are addressed by severity and fixed as soon as possible.

If you require the absolute latest version of faker.js the master branch @ http://github.com/marak/faker.js/ should always be up to date and working.

Maintainer

Marak Squires

faker.js - Copyright (c) 2020 Marak Squires www.marak.com http://github.com/marak/faker.js/

faker.js was inspired by and has used data definitions from:

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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Support us with a monthly donation and help us continue our activities. [Become a backer]

Sponsors

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