Learning to Code Question.

William702

William702

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I have spent some time reading a few posts and wanted to confirm that python would be the best language to learn in order to build a web scraper?

I have zero coding knowledge or experience and thought I would be better off learning Java to start off with but after reading some posts and some articles it seems Python might be a better option for me to start with especially for coding web scrapers. Do I need to know Java before learning Python. To be honest I really don't even know what I am asking here, someone could be reading this and laughing their tits off lol.

I want to create a site just like this one
Code: 
www craftcount com
its a ranking site for Etsy that I assume uses the Etsy API to gather that info and display it on the site to show top selling shops and daily sales etc. I want to create a site just like this one for Etsy too but my main problem and why I want to learn to scrape is to make a site just like this one for another online marketplace which is not Etsy. I dont think they have any apps for it or API or way you can get all the info on sellers and sales they have made. I figure I will have to scrape the site for users and then scrape the users profiles to see how many sales they made, how many items they have available etc.

So given that is what I want to do is Python the way to go?

There are only a few people I would turn to on BHW to have code what I need and I know they are all busy people so I dont want to bother them and figured there is no time like the present to learn coding. If anyone feels like sending me a PM that's fine. If this is a totally easy project for someone please get in touch with me via PM. I am willing to talk JV's and other payment options. This is not a want to hire thread though, I figure some people are going to reach out anyway so I might as well let them know it's OK.

I still want to learn coding and would appreciate any insight about the best way to go about it. The sole purpose is to do the task above so I would love to avoid learning anything unnecessary.
 
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William702 said:
I have spent some time reading a few posts and wanted to confirm that python would be the best language to learn in order to build a web scraper?

I have zero coding knowledge or experience and thought I would be better off learning Java to start off with but after reading some posts and some articles it seems Python might be a better option for me to start with especially for coding web scrapers. Do I need to know Java before learning Python. To be honest I really don't even know what I am asking here, someone could be reading this and laughing their tits off lol.

I want to create a site just like this one
Code: 
www craftcount com
its a ranking site for Etsy that I assume uses the Etsy API to gather that info and display it on the site to show top selling shops and daily sales etc. I want to create a site just like this one for Etsy too but my main problem and why I want to learn to scrape is to make a site just like this one for another online marketplace which is not Etsy. I dont think they have any apps for it or API or way you can get all the info on sellers and sales they have made. I figure I will have to scrape the site for users and then scrape the users profiles to see how many sales they made, how many items they have available etc.

So given that is what I want to do is Python the way to go?

There are only a few people I would turn to on BHW to have code what I need and I know they are all busy people so I dont want to bother them and figured there is no time like the present to learn coding. If anyone feels like sending me a PM that's fine. If this is a totally easy project for someone please get in touch with me via PM. I am willing to talk JV's and other payment options. This is not a want to hire thread though, I figure some people are going to reach out anyway so I might as well let them know it's OK.

I still want to learn coding and would appreciate any insight about the best way to go about it. The sole purpose is to do the task above so I would love to avoid learning anything unnecessary.
Click to expand...

I have good humor, so I will reply ;)

Java vs Python, both are different languages, used for different situations. Java is minimal slower current day.
They are separated. To know Java, you don't need Python and reversive.
They are both object oriented languages, to start programming you need to learn what is:
-object
-class
-method
-inheritance
-variable/constant
-logic operators
-loops
-if/else conditions

Java is better for desktop apps, Python is better for server apps. You will run also Java on servers, but it's little slower and requires more computing power, 100% VPS.

Java is more flexible, if you learn Java, you can use it for building software from little scrappers like bots to enteprise solutions. Python? I don't think so.
 
vinku said:
I have good humor, so I will reply ;)

Java vs Python, both are different languages, used for different situations. Java is minimal slower current day.
They are separated. To know Java, you don't need Python and reversive.
They are both object oriented languages, to start programming you need to learn what is:
-object
-class
-method
-inheritance
-variable/constant
-logic operators
-loops
-if/else conditions

Java is better for desktop apps, Python is better for server apps. You will run also Java on servers, but it's little slower and requires more computing power, 100% VPS.

Java is more flexible, if you learn Java, you can use it for building software from little scrappers like bots to enteprise solutions. Python? I don't think so.
Click to expand...

Fantastic! Thank you for your input, that actually helps a lot.
 
William702 said:
Fantastic! Thank you for your input, that actually helps a lot.
Click to expand...

Try from something simple, "Hello World" for Java and Python and check whats better but for me Java rulez because unlimited possibilites.
Python in reality is limited only for server job even in theory can work for desktop apps.

Choose Intelij Idea for coding, it's paid but with Eclipse and Netbeans you will learn bad habbits.
You can try Eclipse for start but switch as fast you can.
 
Please do not start with Java, probably you'll hate programming. Java syntax is ugly AF. With python you can do almost everything(except writing drivers). About scrapping, there is cloud-based tools(scrappers), which target website could make to API, and everything that you have to do is create website and use your API.
 
vinku said:
Try from something simple, "Hello World" for Java and Python and check whats better but for me Java rulez because unlimited possibilites.
Python in reality is limited only for server job even in theory can work for desktop apps.

Choose Intelij Idea for coding, it's paid but with Eclipse and Netbeans you will learn bad habbits.
You can try Eclipse for start but switch as fast you can.
Click to expand...
What kind of bad habit are you talking about?
 
rimvy said:
Please do not start with Java, probably you'll hate programming. Java syntax is ugly AF. With python you can do almost everything(except writing drivers). About scrapping, there is cloud-based tools(scrappers), which target website could make to API, and everything that you have to do is create website and use your API.
Click to expand...
Java syntax is very similar to C#, if he want to learn programming in modern languages, then it's only way to not learn bad habbits.
 
Jklmno said:
What kind of bad habit are you talking about?
Click to expand...
For example gradle, it's very popular now, Eclipse and Netbeans have shitty support for gradle, it exist but... sucks
 
rimvy said:
Please do not start with Java, probably you'll hate programming. Java syntax is ugly AF. With python you can do almost everything(except writing drivers). About scrapping, there is cloud-based tools(scrappers), which target website could make to API, and everything that you have to do is create website and use your API.
Click to expand...
Personally, when I first begin coding Java, I get stuck at the project setup, you know things like downloading library, importing library. Haha. Not the syntax. In the end I hire people to see how they do it. Do Phython also have the same problem?
 
Last edited:
Learn basic of both languages, I think on codecademy you can try both java and python, and decide which one you like more. Don't do what you don't like, when time comes, and you'll understand, that you need to learn low-level programming things, learn it.
 
rimvy said:
Learn basic of both languages, I think on codecademy you can try both java and python, and decide which one you like more. Don't do what you don't like, when time comes, and you'll understand, that you need to learn low-level programming things, learn it.
Click to expand...
I've started with Turbo Pascal, C, C++, C# and ended with Java. I think it's the correct way except Turbo Pascal. C allows to understand how structural programming works and C++ is good for objective.
 
vinku said:
I've started with Turbo Pascal, C, C++, C# and ended with Java. I think it's the correct way except Turbo Pascal. C allows to understand how structural programming works and C++ is good for objective.
Click to expand...
I started with Pascal, and hated it, that way was so wrong for me. If he just wants to make websites, why he needs to learn c, c++, c#, you are a little bit old thinking about learning to program, even at US/EU universities people start from python more often.
 
vinku said:
For example gradle, it's very popular now, Eclipse and Netbeans have shitty support for gradle, it exist but... sucks
Click to expand...
What is Gradle for? For copy-pasting project properly??
 
IMO if you want to quickly "do something" and see results, it's a good idea to play around with python. After if you want to understand deeper, build more complex things and understand/manipulate the underlying concepts, then another language like java or c++ might be better, because python likes to 'hide' things.

You can also do the other way around, if you really want to learn, start from the basics but it will take more time before you're actually building something.

It depends of what's your goal, learn real programming or just building your scraper and see if you like programming ;)
 
As someone that knows java and python i have to say go for python 100% i cant express how much i like python its probably the most liked language of all the languages ny the coding comunity, its simple fast to write really nice to look at and it works like a charm, the only problem is that it can be less efficient than java or C but it can execute C code sl its fine.
also the efficiency isnt something you need to look out right now, first learn to code the basics like nucles functions how to make good algorithms then when you know that you go for efficiency
 
Grimasaur said:
As someone that knows java and python i have to say go for python 100% i cant express how much i like python its probably the most liked language of all the languages ny the coding comunity, its simple fast to write really nice to look at and it works like a charm, the only problem is that it can be less efficient than java or C but it can execute C code sl its fine.
also the efficiency isnt something you need to look out right now, first learn to code the basics like nucles functions how to make good algorithms then when you know that you go for efficiency
Click to expand...
I am not fan of learning code from simpler to harder.
When he will want to try Java or C, then he will say "WTF" and run after Python journey.
 
Wait you want to build a website that consumes couple of APIs? You can consider PHP or Node.js - they have a easier learning path IMO.

I dont think you should start with JAVA, you just have to write so much code to get a simple thing done - it might frustrate you. I use Java only for android dev.

If you want to explore programming in general, Python is a good option. You can write small snippets and run them in a snap. To me learning in that way is much more fun. You can check out the result instantly - instead of waiting to build it every time (for C, Java types). Need to scrap a website, use scrappy, there are tutorials online to get you started in minutes.

Happy Coding :)
 
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