My Project

IKEA Web Scraper

In our DevOps course, we were tasked with completing a project, and one of the available options was to develop a web scraper. The objective of this project was to extract information from a website or an online service using a program we built. I decided to create my web scraper for the IKEA website, as I frequently browse their products. This project offered an opportunity to streamline my searches and provide a convenient tool for future use.

The core functionality of my IKEA web scraper was straightforward. The program prompted the user to enter a search term, such as "couch," which it then used to query the IKEA website. In return, the scraper fetched the top five results matching the search query. For each product, the program displayed its name, description, price, and a direct link to the product page. This provided a quick and efficient way to find relevant IKEA products without manually browsing the website.

After successfully implementing the basic functionality, I explored ways to enhance its usefulness, both for myself and for others. One common feature on e-commerce websites is the ability to filter products based on specific attributes, such as colour. I decided to incorporate this feature into my scraper by adding an optional parameter that allowed users to specify a preferred colour. If a colour was provided, the scraper filtered the results accordingly, displaying only products that matched both the search term and the chosen colour.

Integrating this additional feature significantly improved the efficiency of my web scraper. Instead of manually adjusting filters on the IKEA website, users could now receive a refined list of top products based on both their desired product type and colour preference. This enhancement not only made the tool more practical but also demonstrated how automation can simplify everyday online shopping experiences.

The final version of my IKEA web scraper functioned seamlessly and provided a valuable and time-saving solution for browsing products. This project served as an excellent exercise in web scraping, data processing, and practical problem-solving. It highlighted the importance of user-oriented features and reinforced my skills in coding and automation. The success of this project made it a noteworthy addition to my portfolio, showcasing my ability to build functional and user-friendly software solutions.