Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

The Undocumented Web: scraping, private APIs, proxies and “alternative solutions”


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What is the undocumented web? Scott and Wes dive into it, discussing APIs, faking, scraping, automation, proxies as well as tips and tricks for best practices.

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Show Notes

3:05 - What Is the undocumented web?

  • When traditional methods don’t give you what you want
  • Wild West

6:10 - Undocumented APIS

  • Instagram’s private API
  • Use dev tools’ XHR Request
  • React Dev Tools will also have the data
  • Ep 008 - Wes Bos Origin Story
  • Realtor.ca - MLS Mapping
  • Simon Willison’s Zeit Day Talk about XML files
  • Charles Proxy App - also good for debugging requests

17:34 - Faking

  • Faking User Agents
    • Sending headers from requests
    • Free Blackberry wifi on plane

23:52 - Scraping

  • What is craping?
  • Cheerio - jQuery like node package

27:30 - Automation

  • Cron Jobs
  • Filling out forms instantly
  • Headless browsers
    • Puppeteer
    • PhantomJS

33:30 - Proxies

  • Need a fresh IP address
  • Need a different country
  • Side note: Canadians buying stuff in USA M4S1P1 === 41100
  • API throttling

39:00 - Tips and Tricks

  • Multiple API keys
  • diskDB - Text files as databases
  • Search Github for API keys
  • Inspect Element and Delete Overlays
  • Delete Cookiesokay

44:45 - Stories

  • Photo Voting
  • MLS Listing
  • Top Entrepreneur voting cheating
  • Vanity Plate Checker
  • My Hockey Team Sucks
  • Vehicle auction bidding app
  • youtube-dl
××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××
  • Scott: Octopath Traveler & OST
  • Wes 1: AvE Youtube Channel
  • Wes 2: Mustie1 Youtube Channel
Shameless Plugs
  • Scott’s Level Up Tuts Pro
  • Wes’ Courses
Tweet us your tasty treats!
  • Scott’s Instagram
  • LevelUpTutorials Instagram
  • Wes’ Instagram
  • Wes’ Twitter
  • Wes’ Facebook
  • Scott’s Twitter
  • Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets
...more
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Syntax - Tasty Web Development TreatsBy Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski - Full Stack JavaScript Web Developers

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