4 replies to this topic

[pstolemy]

I want to make a program which does these things:

-Scans a website constantly/every 5 minute/15 minutes/set interval

-When detecting a certain change in the website, sends an email (say it scans "NBC's" Twitter and whenever NBC has the word "oil" in a tweet, an email is sent with a message. Twitter or NBC is not exactly what I want the program to do, but it's along the same lines)

-When detecting this certain change (like, when NBC tweets the word "oil"), the program creates a response (say, it logs into twitter, navigates the different links to form a set response. Like, it logs into my account and makes a tweet saying, "NBC just said oil!!")


Which programming languages would be required for this program and where should I start?

I appreciate it, thank you.

[Vaielab]

You can do this in almost any languages (of not all), go with the one that you know the most.

You will need to load the html of the page, than save it to compare with the next "scan"
If this page is different from the previous one that you had saved, you validate if the new section contain your special words
You can do this with regular expression, or a lot of if to strip all html code, and get only the text
Than you send the email.

[pstolemy]

Well, the thing is, I have not a single clue how to program. I want to teach myself how to make this program. The only language I know is basic, BASIC HTML.

Any other tips? I didn't really understand your response.

[Vaielab]

Sadly you will need more than html.
If you don't know any language, I will suggest to start with c# or java. Thoses languages have class that could help you to load the html content of a page.
But if this is your first program I suggest to start with a easier project, this one can be a little bit tricky.

[pstolemy]

Thank you