Back to Glossary
DevelopmentIntermediate

What is Web Scraping?

Automatically extracting data from websites using code that reads and processes web page content.

Why It Matters

Web scraping lets you collect data from sites that do not offer APIs, enabling competitive analysis and data collection.

Real-World Example

A script that collects product prices from multiple competitor websites daily for comparison.

“Understanding terms like Web Scraping matters because it helps you have better conversations with developers and make smarter decisions about your software. You do not need to be technical. You just need to know enough to ask the right questions.”

Callum Holt, Founder, 13Labs

From definition to deployment

Knowing the term is step one. Using it in something real is the rest.

Build it yourself in 3 weeks

buildAcademy cohort

Have me build it for you

buildAgency

Related Terms

Glossary

API

A way for different software applications to talk to each other and share data

Glossary

JavaScript

The programming language that makes websites interactive and dynamic

Glossary

Data Pipeline

An automated series of steps that moves and processes data from one system to another.

Glossary

Full-stack

Working on both the frontend (what users see) and backend (the server and database) of an application

Glossary

TypeScript

JavaScript with added type checking that catches errors before your code runs

Glossary

Environment Variables

Secret settings stored outside your code, like passwords and API keys