Screen scraper (also known as web scraping) is a technique used by many computer programs to extract data from the web. It is used to gain access to web pages that would normally not be accessible to a computer program. Screen scraper processes the contents of a web page and extracts information from it for further storage and processing.
Screen scraping is used for a variety of purposes, such as collecting data from multiple webpages, monitoring a website for changes, or creating archives of webpages. This technique can be used by webmasters to validate and even manipulate the content of a website. Screen scraper programs are typically used in areas such as search engine optimization, data mining, content aggregation, and web development.
The process of screen scraping usually involves an automated process which studies the HTML of a page and extracts the relevant information from it. This allows for automated data extraction from webpages in a much simpler way than manually copying and pasting individual pieces of data. Depending on the website, the data extraction may be more automated than manual, and it can automate all of the data scraping in a few seconds.
However, there are some ethical considerations which must be taken into account when utilizing screen scrapers. Many webpages prohibit screen scraping due to the potential for abuse, as it can lead to the procession of private or restricted content. Where possible, it is important to check with the website before utilizing screen scraping to ensure that the data being extracted is legally permissible.
In conclusion, screen scraping (also known as web scraping) is a technique used to access and extract data from webpages. It is a powerful and versatile tool which is used for a variety of purposes and can save a lot of time when it comes to data collection. However, there are ethical considerations that must be taken into account when using screen scraping to access and extract data from webpages.
