💻 #89: Build an eCommerce Price Tracker using Web Scraping 💹

Learn how to scrape the web and send emails when a price reaches your target

Oct 13, 2023

Happy Friday, developer!

In this weekend’s project, we’re going to learn how to build a web scraper so we can create a project that tracks prices from around the web. I’ve never built a web scraper before but I’ve always wanted to. So I’m really excited about this. I’ll share what I build in the next newsletter. I’ll try my best to put a personal touch on it.

Once you learn web scraping, the world opens up. I asked ChatGPT for some ideas and this is what it suggested:

Custom News Aggregator: Create a personalized news feed by scraping articles from various sources based on user preferences. It's like having your own tailored news service.
Job Board Scraper: Build an app that aggregates job postings from various job boards, making it easier for job seekers to find relevant opportunities in one place.
Book Review Aggregator: Develop a platform that gathers book reviews from multiple sources to help readers make informed decisions on their next literary adventure.
Language Learning Assistant: Create a language learning app that scrapes content from news articles or blogs in the language a user is learning, providing relevant and real-world language practice.
Sports Stats Tracker: Build an app that collects and organizes sports statistics from different websites, allowing users to keep up with their favorite teams and players.

Pretty interesting ideas. Let’s dive into the tutorial!

Tutorial of the week:

Length: 4 hours
Difficulty: Intermediate

This weekend’s tutorial is by JavaScript Mastery Probably the most proficient tutorial creator on YouTube right now. I highly recommend subscribing for project tutorials at all levels.

What you’ll learn this weekend:

Next.js ⚛️
CRON jobs ⏲️
Data scraping ⛏️
Sending emails 📧

3 frontend projects of the week:

Use these projects to inspire future projects of your own.

1. Forest Trail

Here’s a very cool Three.js project I stumbled upon Reddit yesterday. An interactive portfolio like this is a great way to stand out to potential employers and show some personality.

Great work @Jessezhouu check out his twitter for more of his work.

Check it out!

2. Mapple Game

Fun daily game: start by guessing a capital city and it’ll tell you the distance to the capital city you are trying to guess. I won’t spoil today’s capital — I got it in 5 guesses.

Check it out!

3. Best 50 Productivity Hacks

Here’s a fun project idea, create a prompt and have people crowdsource ideas and let other people vote on the best answers. It’s a great project idea you can share with friends.

Made by Marc. He’s a creator I’ve been following on Twitter for a few months now. It’s been great watching him build in public.

Check it out!