What is web scraping?
Web scraping extracts selected information from web pages and converts it into a structured form such as rows, JSON, or database records.
A simple mental model
A browser renders a page for a person. A scraper identifies the parts you care about—names, prices, links, dates, tables—and records those values systematically.
Scraping is not the same as crawling
Crawling focuses on discovering pages by following links. Scraping focuses on extracting specific information from pages. A workflow can include both.
The hard part is reliability
Modern pages can load data dynamically, require interaction, change layouts, or block automated access. The best method depends on the source and the tolerance for maintenance.
Use data responsibly
Respect site terms, access controls, privacy, applicable law, and rate limits. Technical possibility is not the same thing as permission.