5 Best C++ Courses & Certifications to Start Learning for Beginners [Updated 2022]

Nowadays, software development is one of the most in-demand skills. If you want to pursue a career in software development and have little or no knowledge about programming, C++ is the best choice to get started with it. You should learn C++ because it is near to machines, it helps you understand how things work as you must tell the computer everything by yourself. You come to know how computers work with memory management. It is a little hard to learn compared to other programming languages, so you will not face any difficulty in switching to any different programming language once you have learned it. Furthermore, there is huge community support for C++ developers.
C++ is one of the first programming languages, and it is the extension of C. It is a cross-platform language used to create software applications. It is usually used to program the embedded devices as it is near the machine, and it is easy to handle the hardware with it.
Here are some reasons why you should consider learning C++:
- It is fast.
- It is close to metal, meaning that you can do low-level development using C++.
- It is efficient and has precise control over memory use.
- It is simple, safer, and expressive.
- It has huge community support
The Popularity of C++:
After 40 years of its development, it is still as popular among programmers as it was in its early days. In the world-famous programming community index, TIOBE, C++ holds the 4th position, after Java being 3rd as the most popular programming language across the globe in April 2022. Similarly, the PYPL Popularity of Programming Language Index has placed it in the 5th position after C# at the 4th position. According to Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021, C++ was used by 24.31% of developers worldwide.
C++ Frameworks:
There are so many frameworks and libraries available for learning and developing applications with C++, some of which are as follows:
- Boost
- Qt
- GSL
- Active Template Library
- Asio
Applications of C++:
You can use C++ to develop games, compilers, web browsers, operating systems, desktop applications, and much more. It is a general-purpose language which means that you can use it to develop any type of application. Many powerful apps we use in our daily lives, such as YouTube, Amazon.com, Windows OS, Microsoft Office, Google, etc., are written in C++. Furthermore, so many compilers, such as GCC, are developed in C++.
C++ Career Options:
Here are some of the career options available to a C++ developer:
- Digital Electric Engineer
- Real-time Software Engineer
- Desktop Application Developer
- Software Development Manager
- DevOps Engineer
C++ Job Market and Earnings:
Due to the popularity of C++, even after so many years of its development, it is still one of the most demanded programming languages. As of April 2022, there are 86,286 jobs for C++ developers on indeed.com. On ziprecruiter.com, there are 255,904 job postings. Besides, on freelance marketplaces, the situation is almost the same. There are 1,448 jobs on Upwork.com, 231 on Freelancer.com, and 118 on Guru.com. From these stats, you can easily determine the demand for C++ developers in the local online and remote job markets.
As far as the earnings of C++ developers are concerned, they make $116,531 on average. However, this number may vary based on location and experience. Here are the salaries paid to some roles:
- Digital Electric Engineer: $87,817/year
- Real-time Software Engineer: $126,827/year
- Desktop Application Developer: $105,891/year
- Software Development Manager: $124,558/year
Getting Started With C++:
It is best and most efficient to take online courses and read books to learn any programming language. Many platforms offer numerous courses with or without certifications. The most popular ones in the programming niche are Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Educative, Codecademy, Pluralsight, Coursera, etc. In the presence of unlimited courses available online, it is not easy to figure out which course is the best. So, to ease your struggle, this article has listed the top 5 courses for C++ below. Let’s explore each course:
5 Best
C++
Courses in 2022:
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 46 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 26 sections • 305 lectures
- Popularity: 190,758 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (47,175 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
One of the modern yet most updated C++ courses on the Internet, covering different versions of C++, including C++ 14, C++ 17, and C++ 20, this best course to learn C++ is offered by Udemy. Covering the basic concepts of C++, the program will help you understand how a program executes, and you will acquire problem-solving skills after its completion. The curriculum includes the topics for beginner to intermediate levels.
This best C programming course is designed for those looking to get started with programming and for those who want to upscale their programming skills. The course instructors are Tim Buchalka, a professional programmer and teacher, and Dr. Frank Mitropoulos experienced Computer Scientist and Educator.
Things You'll Learn:
- Introduction
- Installation and Setup
- Curriculum Overview
- Structure of a C++ Program
- Variables and Constants
- Arrays and Vectors
- Statements and Operators
- Controlling Program Flow
- Characters and Strings
- Functions
- Pointers and References
- OOP - Classes and Objects
- Operator Overloading
- Inheritance
- Polymorphism
- Smart Pointers
- Exception Handling
- I/O and Streams
- The Standard Template Library (STL)
- Lambda Expressions
- Enumerations
- Source code, and other stuff
Featured Review:
“Thank you for the amazing course. I need it to remember C++ again to start learning Unreal game development. I am an iOS developer and start to make shift career your course was very helpful to me to remember what I learned in university also many things were overwhelming in C++ now it's clear this course deserves every dollar.” – Youssef Mohamed G.
Best Features of This Course:
Up-to-date course materials with beginner-friendly lessons
An in-depth course taught by a university professor experienced with C++ for more than 25 years
The course includes both theory and concepts which are then reinforced with live code examples
The Highest rated Udemy course on C++
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 30.5 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 27 sections • 279 lectures
- Popularity: 48,454 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (15,434 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
The “Learn C++ Programming -Beginner to Advance- Deep Dive in C++” is the most appropriate program for you to develop job-ready skills with strong conceptual knowledge and programming skills. All lectures are explained on the whiteboard in this course and the practical demo with real-life examples. It covers all the topics of Modern C++ 11 and is highly rated, having thousands of positive reviews that show the popularity and quality of this course. After completing the best C++ course on Udemy, you get a certificate of completion to enhance your portfolio. In addition to that, you have enough programming skills to develop any type of application using C++.
It is probably the best online course for learning C++ as a beginner because it covers beginner to advanced topics at the best price. The curriculum is designed by Abdul Bari, a professional programmer, and educator.
Things You'll Learn:
- Introduction
- Essential Fundamentals
- Program Development
- Compiler and IDE Setup
- C++ Basics
- Conditional Statements
- Loops
- Arrays
- Pointers
- Strings
- Functions
- Introduction to OOPS
- Operator Overloading
- Inheritance
- Base Class Pointer Derived Class Object
- Polymorphism
- Friend and Static Members / Inner Classes
- Exception Handling
- Template Functions and Classes
- Constants
- Preprocessor Directives and Namespaces
- Destructor and Virtual Destructors
- I/O Streams
- STL
- C++ 11
- Student Project - Banking System
- Miscellaneous #1
- Miscellaneous #2
Featured Review:
“Very thorough and detailed, with an emphasis on real world examples and testing out code yourself. I appreciate the live demos following the classroom-style lectures, and the comparison to other programming languages such as Java. The multiple choice exams sometimes contained questions that were not covered in the lecture, but this encouraged me to research topics further.” – Alexandra R.
Best Features of This Course:
A course with beginner-friendly explanations covering all levels of topics on C++
Include a student Project (Banking System) at the end of the Course
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 29.5 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 8 sections • 210 lectures
- Popularity: 298,348 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (57,591 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
This Unreal Engine course was developed in collaboration with Epic Games. This course includes the contribution of Ben Tristem (Founder of GameDev.tv, Entrepreneur, Teacher), Sam Pattuzzi (Software Engineer and Instructor at GameDev.tv), GameDev.tv Team and Rob Brooks (Gameplay programmer and Game Design Instructor).
In this course, you learn game development using C++ from scratch. This course is also designed for absolute beginners and lets you know about game development technologies and techniques. Although Unreal Engine is complex to understand, this course claims to make it easy by breaking it down step-by-step. This includes video tutorials, exercises, and project-based learning. By the end of this course, you will have enough coding basics and game development knowledge.
This is probably the best course for game development using C++ and Unreal Engine you will find on the Internet, as it covers most of the basics of programming concepts and lets you know how to use Unreal Engine. The program does not require any prior coding knowledge or the Unreal engine. It is remastered and updated, and new material is added every week or month. The students who take this course are given free access to the new course contents.
Things You'll Learn:
- Intro & Setup (New UE5 Content)
- Warehouse Wreckage (New UE5 Content)
- Obstacle Assault (New UE5 Content)
- Crypt Raider (New UE5 Content)
- Toon Tanks (v2)
- Simple Shooter
- Updates and Important Messages
- Continuing Your GameDev Journey
Featured Review:
“I could not write anything down, because I had just started at the time of reviewing. I'm on section 03, lesson 59 now. I already know C/C++, but I'm completely new to UE and I can say the course is really cool for all levels. Mike, the instructor for the Bull Cows section, seems to be a really nice guy to chat with and catch up! Congratulations!” – Gabriel
Best Features of This Course:
The majority of the course has been fully updated and remastered to Unreal Engine 5
A fully successful Unreal Engine course created in collaboration with Epic Games
Learn to build multiple games on Unreal Engine as well as get community support
Top rated C++ course on the internet for game development
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 48 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 3 sections • 13 courses
- Popularity: Many students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (1,482 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
Pluralsight is a newly founded growing technology workforce development company that offers many courses for different technologies to help learners build their programming skills. The program has three learning paths:
- Beginner: This path covers the basic topics and helps you understand the syntax and use of C++ in different scenarios.
- Intermediate: This path is for those having the foundational knowledge of C++ and covers the topics such as data structures and algorithms, C++ STL, and more. It is undoubtedly the best way to learn data structures and algorithms in C++.
- Advanced: The advanced part covers the most complex topics such as unit testing, high-performance computing, etc.
Programmed by various industry experts, the program should be considered by those looking forward to getting started with the programming.
Things You'll Learn:
- Program with C++
- C++ Fundamentals Including C++ 17
- Practical C++14 and C++17 Features
- C++ 17: Beyond the Basics
- Reading Legacy C++
- Data Structures and Algorithms
- C++ Standard Library: Sequential Containers
- C++ Standard Library: Associative Containers
- Beautiful C++: STL Algorithms
- Beautiful C++: Updating Legacy Code
- C++ Unit Testing Fundamentals Using Catch2
- Advanced C++ Mocking Using Google Mock
- High-performance Computing in C++
Best Features of This Course:
Up-to-date course materials
A comprehensive and easy-to-follow guideline on C++ from beginner to Advanced topics
Learn to create platform-independent desktop applications in C++
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $19/Mo
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 19 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 8 courses in total
- Popularity: 328,689 students learned
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 (1,612 ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
LinkedIn Learning, a platform to acquire the demanding skills in the best way possible, offers another one of the best C++ courses. Staring from the foundational programming concepts in C++, you will learn to code in C++ and solve different problems with it. Furthermore, the program will help you nail your C++ interview and get a job as a C++ developer.
This C++ certification is designed by many industry experts and professionals with extensive experience in technology. Aimed for absolute beginners and those looking for a job as a developer, this is doubtlessly the best C++ Bootcamp.
Things You'll Learn:
- Basic Syntax
- Data Types
- Operators
- Functions
- Classes and Objects
- Templates
- Standard Library
- Standard Template Library
- Final Project: A Deck of Cards
- Web Servers and APIs using C++
- Building Websites
- Data Access
- RESTful APIs
- WebSockets and Crow
- Functional Programming in C++
- Functional Programming in Modern C++
- Template Metaprogramming
- Functional Reactive Programming
- Code Clinic: C++
- Problem 1: Weather Statistics
- Problem 2: Where Am I?
- Problem 3: Eight Queens
- Problem 4: Musical Instrument
- Problem 5: Facial Recognition
- Problem 6: Real-Time Information Dashboard
- C++ Interview Questions
- C++ Specific Questions
- C++ Programming Questions
- Advanced C++ Programming Topics
- C++ Classes
Featured Review:
“The course was well structured with good course materials. The tutor explained topics proficiently in a well paced curriculum. I really enjoyed re-visiting a language that I started coding with in the 90s using Borland and Turbo C++.” – Daren Roberts
Best Features of This Course:
A learning path to become a C++ developer with expert-led tutorials.
Learn the fundamentals of programming with C++ with a solid foundation
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $29.99/Mo
Final Notes:
Thank you for reading the article. We hope that you found the best C++ course online with the help of our top 5 C++ courses in 2022. If you liked our recommended courses, please share the article with others. Furthermore, if you are still confused about which course to take, here are our suggestions:
- If you are an absolute beginner having zero experience, C++ Learning Path – Pluralsight would be the best for you.
- If you already have some knowledge about C++, you should take Learn C++ Programming - Beginner to Advance - Deep Dive in C++ - Udemy.
- If you want to learn game development and programming, Unreal Engine 5 C++ Developer: Learn C++ & Make Video Games – Udemy is the course for you.
However, if you want to learn another of the most in-demand skills, i.e., Ethical hacking, please check our top 5 ethical hacking courses in 2022. This will help you grab a highly paid job in the minimum time possible. Thank you, and best of luck!