What is Web Scraping?
Explore the definition, applications, and ethical boundaries of web scraping, distinguishing it from web crawling.
What is Web Scraping? is a free Web Scraping & Bots lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 1 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Web Scraping & Bots learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.
Welcome to Web Scraping!
Price comparison tools and news aggregators pull their data through web scraping. Let’s see what it is, why it’s used, and how to do it responsibly.
What is Web Scraping?
Web scraping is automating data extraction from websites. Instead of copy-pasting by hand, a program gathers public info and saves it for analysis.
How Does it Work? (High-Level)
Scraping is four steps: request a page, receive its HTML, parse out the data you want, then store it in a structured format. We’ll go deep on each.
Why Do We Scrape? Common Uses.
People scrape for real work: price comparison, market and competitor research, news aggregation, and lead generation. The use cases are everywhere.
Scraping vs. Crawling.
Don’t mix these up: crawling discovers pages by following links; scraping extracts specific data from pages you already know. Find vs. read.
The Ethical Side.
Public data isn’t a free-for-all. Scraping is powerful, so weigh the ethical and legal side before you write a single line.
Respecting Websites.
Respect the sites you hit: check robots.txt for allowed paths, and read the Terms of Service — many forbid scraping outright.
Don't Be a Burden!
Fire too many fast requests and you can overload a server. Be polite: add rate limiting — a delay between requests — so you don’t cause harm.
Legality at a Glance.
Scraping law is complex and regional. Watch copyright, data ownership, and privacy rules — especially with personal info. Stay compliant.
Quick Check
Let's test your understanding of web scraping fundamentals!
Recap & Next Steps
Nice start! You’ve got what scraping is, the request-parse-store flow, scraping vs. crawling, and why ethics and legality come first. Next up: HTTP.
Frequently asked questions
Is the “What is Web Scraping?” lesson free?
Yes — the full text of “What is Web Scraping?” is free to read here on the web, and the Web Scraping & Bots course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Web Scraping & Bots course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.
What will I learn in “What is Web Scraping?”?
Explore the definition, applications, and ethical boundaries of web scraping, distinguishing it from web crawling. You practise Web Scraping & Bots with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.
Do I need any experience to start Web Scraping & Bots?
No prior experience is required. Web Scraping & Bots on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 1 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.
How long does the “What is Web Scraping?” lesson take?
Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.
Can I write and run code in this Web Scraping & Bots lesson?
Yes. Every Web Scraping & Bots lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.
All lessons in this course
- What is Web Scraping?
- HTTP Requests & Responses
- Inspecting Web Pages
- Robots.txt & Scraping Ethics