Web Scraping 101 -> P3
Let's set the tools that well makes you scrape like a Pro
Table of contents
Why do We need tools ?
Tools are used to make tasks easier, more efficient, and more accurate. In the context of web scraping, there are so many tools that we can use to help us, and in this article, I will talk about two of the most used tools in web scraping :
The Chrome Developer Tools.
SelectorGadget.
The Chrome Developer Tools :
The Chrome Developer Tools often referred to as just "DevTools," is a set of web development and debugging tools built into Google Chrome. These tools allow developers to inspect and debug the web pages and applications they create, including the ability to view the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, as well as to modify it on the fly and see the changes in real-time. DevTools also provides a variety of other features such as network debugging, performance analysis, and mobile emulation, making it an essential tool for any web developer.
The Chrome Developer Tools can be accessed by opening Google Chrome and either:
Pressing F12 on Windows and Linux or ⌘+⌥+I on macOS
Right-clicking an element on a webpage and selecting "Inspect"
Going to the "More Tools" menu and selecting "Developer Tools"
You can also access the Developer tools by visiting this link : chrome://devtools
However, please note that The Chrome Developer Tools are built into the Chrome browser, you don't need to download or install them separately.
SelectorGadget :
SelectorGadget is a browser extension that allows users to easily select elements on a web page. It is especially useful for web scraping and data extraction, as it allows users to quickly identify the CSS selectors of the elements they wish to extract.
To install the extension click on any word in this sentence lol
Once the SelectorGadget extension is installed, users can activate it by clicking on the icon in their browser's toolbar. They can then click on any element on the web page, and SelectorGadget will generate a CSS selector for that element and its ancestors. Users can then adjust the selector by clicking on other elements on the page to include or exclude them from the selection.
In summary, SelectorGadget is a browser extension that makes it easy to select elements on a webpage by generating CSS selector, it’s a time-saving tool for web scraping and data extraction.