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from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html_doc = """
<html><body>
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 3
</body></html>
"""

# Parse the HTML
soup = BeautifulSoup(html_doc, 'html.parser')

# Find all p tags
p_tags = soup.find_all('p')

# Print all p tags
for p in p_tags:
 # Output: Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3
 print(p.text)

# Key Methods and Usage of BeautifulSoup

In this lesson, we will look at the key methods of `BeautifulSoup` and how to use them with some simple examples.

 

## Finding a Specific Element with find

To find a specific element on a web page, you can use the `find()` method.

This method returns the `first element` that meets the criteria.

```python title="Example Usage of find Method"
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html_doc = """
<html><body>
<h1>Hello</h1>
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2
</body></html>
"""

# Parse the HTML
soup = BeautifulSoup(html_doc, 'html.parser')

# Find the h1 tag
h1_tag = soup.find('h1')

# Output: Hello
print(h1_tag.text)
```

In the example above, it finds the `h1` tag and prints its content.

`find()` always returns only the first matching element, so if there are multiple elements, only the first one is returned.

 

## Finding Multiple Elements with find_all

If you want to find all elements that meet the criteria, use the `find_all()` method.

This method returns the results as a list, allowing you to handle multiple elements at once.

```python title="Example Usage of find_all Method"
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html_doc = """
<html><body>
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 3
</body></html>
"""

# Parse the HTML
soup = BeautifulSoup(html_doc, 'html.parser')

# Find all p tags
p_tags = soup.find_all('p')

# Print all p tags
for p in p_tags:
 # Output: Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3
 print(p.text)
```

This code finds and prints all `p` tags in the string held by the `html_doc` variable.

The `p_tags` variable holds the values of the p tags in a list like `['Paragraph 1', 'Paragraph 2', 'Paragraph 3']`.

Thus, `find_all()` is useful when you want to find multiple elements at once.

 

## Finding Elements Using CSS Selectors with select

To select a specific element using CSS selectors, use `select()`.

```python title="Example Usage of select Method"
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html_doc = """
<html><body>
Paragraph 1
<div class="content">
 Paragraph 2
 Paragraph 3
</div>
</body></html>
"""

# Parse the HTML
soup = BeautifulSoup(html_doc, 'html.parser')

# Find all p tags within .content class
content_p_tags = soup.select('.content p')
for p in content_p_tags:
 # Output: Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3
 print(p.text)
```

This code selects and prints all `p` tags within the `.content` class.

 

## Selecting the First Element with select_one

The `select_one()` method is similar to `select()`, but it returns only the first element that meets the criteria.

```python title="Example Usage of select_one() Method"
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

html_doc = """
<html><body>
<div class="content">
 Paragraph 1
 Paragraph 2
</div>
</body></html>
"""

# Parse the HTML
soup = BeautifulSoup(html_doc, 'html.parser')

# Find the first p tag within .content class
first_p_tag = soup.select_one('.content p')

# Output: Paragraph 1
print(first_p_tag.text)
```

In the above example, it finds and prints the first `p` tag within the `.content` class.

The find() method is a BeautifulSoup method that returns the first element that matches the criteria. Even if multiple elements exist, it always returns the first one, making it useful for quickly finding a specific element.

python_execution

Key Methods and Usage of BeautifulSoup

Finding a Specific Element with find

Finding Multiple Elements with find_all

Finding Elements Using CSS Selectors with select

Selecting the First Element with select_one

What is the method to find the first matching element in BeautifulSoup?