Of the things ever built by mankind, the internet is considered the vastest source of information and data. It is a massive collection of unstructured data that is difficult to collect manually and even complicated to harvest automatically. Thanks to technological advancement, many techniques and tools have surged to allow for proper collection and conversion of data used or needed by businesses. These days, one of the novel techniques that many businesses adopt is web scraping. It follows the typical process of extraction, transformation, and reuse.
Meanwhile, scraping processes are normally written in languages like Java, Python, Node, or Ruby. This indicates that expert programmers are required for the development and evolution of the subject. Even to use them appropriately. Now, thanks to the availability and relentless efforts of some software companies, many tools have been designed to enable people to scrape web items to their respective needs. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to have a handful of ideas of the statistics revolving around the subject, the skills involved, and more importantly, discuss the functionality.
Web Scraping Statistics/Facts
Taking a quick peek into some statistics confirms the importance of web scraping. As obtained from LinkedIn in 2018, the top 10 industries with the highest demand for web scraping skills include computer software, information technology and services, financial services, internet, marketing and advertising, computer & network security, insurance, banking, management, and consulting online media. Others include construction, consumer goods, defense & space, staffing & recruiting, hospital & health care, education management, nonprofit organization management publishing, pharmaceuticals, and many others. Not only that, while most jobs requiring it are tech-oriented, some non-tech jobs too require web scraping skills. These include HR, marketing, business development, sales, and consulting.
Importance of Web Scraping Skills
Web scraping has become an essential skill to acquire in the digital world of today. And as a matter of fact, big data is fast becoming pretty easy to access than before, thanks to the help of machine learning, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Thus, web scraping automation tools are smart and popular so that anyone can use them to empower their business. Again, python is not the only language to learn to have a handful of understanding of what it takes. Others like Octoparse, scrappy, Luminati, and Moxenda are equally applicable and may be a good option to start with. For instance, Octoparse is a sleek and powerful software that makes web scraping effective for most people. It doesn’t matter whether or not you have coding experience or skills.