The extraction of all hyperlinks embedded within a web document is a common task in web development, data analysis, and research. This process involves programmatically identifying and collecting all Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) present in the HTML source code of a given webpage. For example, a user might employ this technique to compile a list of all external resources cited within a Wikipedia article or to catalog the products featured on an e-commerce platform’s homepage.
The ability to systematically harvest these resources offers considerable advantages. It facilitates tasks such as website auditing, competitive analysis, content aggregation, and the creation of web crawlers. Historically, this capability has enabled researchers to study web structure, track online trends, and build comprehensive databases of online information. Further, it simplifies website migration and allows for the verification of link integrity across large websites.