Web Scraping is considered one of the most effective and valuable methods for extracting data from a website. especially in 2024!
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| What is Web Scraping and what is its benefit ? |
Some websites may contain a vast amount of valuable data.
Stock prices, product details, sports statistics, company contact information, and more.
If you want to access this information, you’ll need to either use the format the site relies on or manually copy and paste the data into a new document. This is where Web Scraping comes in.
**What is Web Scraping?**
Web Scraping refers to the process of collecting data from a website. The information is gathered and then exported into a more user-friendly format, such as a spreadsheet or an API.
Although Web Scraping can be done manually, in most cases, automated tools are preferred for web data extraction as they tend to be more cost-effective and operate at a faster rate.
However, Web Scraping is not always a simple task. Websites come in various shapes and sizes, and as a result, web data extraction tools vary in their functionality and features.
**Is Web Scraping Legal?**
In short, Web Scraping is not illegal. However, there are some rules to follow. Web Scraping becomes illegal when data that is not publicly available is extracted.
This is not surprising given the growth of Web Scraping and the many recent legal issues related to it.
**How Does a Web Scraper Work?**
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| ما هو Web Scraping وما فائدته؟ |
Web scrapers operate in a way that is both simple and complex. Ultimately, websites are built to be understood by humans, not machines.
First, the web scraper is provided with one or more URLs to load before starting the scraping process. The scraper then downloads the complete HTML code of the relevant page. More advanced scrapers render the entire site, including CSS and JavaScript elements.
The scraper then either extracts all data on the page or specific data chosen by the user before starting the project.
Ideally, the user selects the specific data they want from the page. For example, you might want to scrape an Amazon product page to get prices and models.
Finally, the web scraper outputs all the collected data in a format that is more useful to the user.
Most web scrapers export data to a CSV file or Excel spreadsheet, while more advanced scrapers support other formats like JSON, which can be used for APIs.