Web scraping has become an indispensable tool for acquiring data from websites, especially in the era of big data and data-driven decision-making. However, the complexity of scraping has increased with the advent of dynamic websites, which generate content on-the-fly using JavaScript and AJAX. Unlike static websites, which serve pre-built HTML pages, dynamic websites respond to user interactions and real-time data updates, making traditional scraping techniques ineffective.
To navigate this landscape, developers need to understand the intricacies of client-side and server-side rendering, the role of JavaScript frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue.js, and the importance of AJAX for asynchronous data loading. This knowledge is crucial for choosing the right tools and techniques to effectively scrape dynamic websites. In this report, we delve into the methodologies for scraping dynamic websites using C++, exploring essential libraries like libcurl, Gumbo, and Boost, and providing a detailed, step-by-step guide to building robust web scrapers.