Web scraping is the process of extracting data from websites. It is a common technique used in various fields such as data analysis, machine learning, and research. In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a web scraper using Python and Selenium.<\/p>\n
Selenium is a powerful tool for browser automation. It allows us to control a web browser programmatically, which is useful for tasks such as navigating websites, submitting forms, and scraping data. By combining Selenium with Python, we can create a robust and flexible web scraper.<\/p>\n
To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following: Before we start coding, let’s set up our Python environment and install the necessary dependencies.<\/p>\n – On Windows:<\/p>\n The Selenium WebDriver is the central component of Selenium. It provides an API for controlling a web browser and performing various actions like clicking elements, filling out forms, and navigating between pages.<\/p>\n To create a web scraper using Selenium, we need to use the appropriate WebDriver for the web browser we want to automate. In this tutorial, we will focus on Google Chrome and Firefox.<\/p>\n To use the Chrome WebDriver, we need to download the Download the matching version of Extract the downloaded ZIP file and copy the To use the Firefox WebDriver, we need to download the Extract the downloaded ZIP file and copy the To use the WebDriver executables we downloaded, we need to add the directory containing them to our system’s PATH environment variable.<\/p>\n Add the WebDriver directory to the PATH environment variable by appending the following line:<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Now that we have set up our environment and WebDriver, let’s start writing our web scraper.<\/p>\n Create a new Python file named Let’s create a function named We will now create a function named
\n– Python installed on your machine
\n– Selenium Python library installed (pip install selenium<\/code>)
\n– A web browser (Google Chrome or Firefox)<\/p>\nSetting up the Environment<\/h2>\n
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mkdir web-scraper\ncd web-scraper\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
python -m venv venv\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
venvScriptsactivate\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
source venv\/bin\/activate\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
pip install selenium\n<\/code><\/pre>\nExploring Selenium WebDriver<\/h2>\n
Chrome WebDriver<\/h3>\n
chromedriver<\/code> executable from the official Selenium website (https:\/\/sites.google.com\/a\/chromium.org\/chromedriver\/).<\/p>\n\n
chrome:\/\/settings\/help<\/code> in your browser.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nchromedriver<\/code> based on your Chrome version.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nchromedriver<\/code> executable to a directory on your system.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nFirefox WebDriver<\/h3>\n
geckodriver<\/code> executable.<\/p>\n\n
geckodriver<\/code> executable from the official Mozilla website (https:\/\/github.com\/mozilla\/geckodriver\/releases).<\/p>\n<\/li>\ngeckodriver<\/code> executable to a directory on your system.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nAdding WebDriver to the System Path<\/h3>\n
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python -m site --user-base\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
.bashrc<\/code> file on Linux\/macOS.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nexport PATH=$PATH:\/path\/to\/webdriver\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
.bashrc<\/code> file.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWriting the Web Scraper<\/h2>\n
Importing the Dependencies<\/h3>\n
web_scraper.py<\/code> and import the required modules:<\/p>\nfrom selenium import webdriver\nfrom selenium.webdriver.common.by import By\nfrom selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait\nfrom selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC\n<\/code><\/pre>\nInitializing the WebDriver<\/h3>\n
init_driver<\/code> that initializes and returns the WebDriver based on the browser we want to automate. We will add support for both Chrome and Firefox.<\/p>\ndef init_driver(browser: str):\n if browser == \"chrome\":\n return webdriver.Chrome()\n elif browser == \"firefox\":\n return webdriver.Firefox()\n else:\n raise ValueError(f\"Invalid browser: {browser}\")\n<\/code><\/pre>\nScraping the Data<\/h3>\n
scrape_data<\/code> that performs the actual scraping.<\/p>\n\n
def scrape_data():\n browser = init_driver(\"chrome\")\n wait = WebDriverWait(browser, 10)\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
browser.get(\"https:\/\/example.com\")\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
# Wait for the element to be clickable\n element = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.ID, \"my-element\")))\n\n # Get the text of the element\n text = element.text\n<\/code><\/pre>\n