PRNG for a gaussian distribution?

Question

I need suggestions for algorithm for Pseudo random number generators that will produce a near gaussian distribution (bell curve) for automatically generating test data. I know that PRNG produce recurring 'patterns, but google has revealed none that expressively produce gaussian distributions. Do you have an recommendations ideally I'd like several suggestions to produce multiple different test datasets usable for automated testing.

Answer 1

You can generate any distribution by using a standard PRNG to choose $X$ uniformly from the interval $[0,1]$ and then returning $F^{-1}(X)$, where $F$ is the cumulative distribution function of the distribution you're interested in.

For the Gaussian distribution, though, it's usually better to use Box–Muller or ziggurat.