Is C++ still a good language to learn for 2024?

What is C++ used for?#

C++ has many real-world applications, including:

C++ features and advantages#

C++ is a powerful and versatile programming language. Now that we’ve looked at what C++ is used for, let’s review the many solid features and advantages that keep C++ ranked among popular programming languages. Some of these include:

• Exception handling: Exception handling is built into C++. It’s a tool that separates code that detects and handles exceptional circumstances that arise while running programs.

• Memory management: C++ supports dynamic memory allocation (DMA), which helps free up and allocate memory. Its memory manipulation capabilities allow you to customize things and access hardware data directly and write highly performant code.

• C++ standard library: The C++ Standard Template Library (STL) is filled with templates of ready-to-use libraries for various data structures, arithmetic operations, and algorithms.

• Object-oriented: C++ is an object-oriented programming language, which means it supports the creation of classes and objects, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. Overall, OOP in C++ provides a powerful set of tools for creating reusable and modular code and helps organize and structure complex programs.

• Multi-paradigm: C++ is a multi-paradigm language. This allows you to choose a single approach or mix aspects of different programming paradigms (such as generic, imperative, and object-oriented).

• Highly portable: C++ is highly portable and is used for scripting systems apps which make up a significant portion of Windows, Linux, and Unix operating systems.

• Large cross-platform support: C++ is supported in a plethora of platforms, from different kinds of embedded devices to high-end servers. This implies that it can run on a wide variety of platforms and hardware architectures without the need for significant changes to the code.

• Versatile: C++ is versatile and has a large job market. It’s used in many different industries, such as finance, game development, machine learning, and more.

• Scalable: C++ is great for resource-intensive applications because of its scalability and performance capabilities. It allows for low-level memory manipulation and fine-grained control over system resources, making it suitable for performance-critical tasks and systems with real-time constraints.

Should I learn C++ for 2024?#

Right now, C++ ranks as the 3rd most popular language in the world according to the TIOBE index and the IEEE spectrum. C++ is one of the standard languages within back-end development. It’s an extremely fast and efficient language. Many tools and frameworks rely on the speed and efficiency of C++. It’s in high demand now, and it will remain in high demand in 2024 because of its reliability, performance, and efficiency.

C++ is a great language to learn if you’re a programmer who wants a deep understanding of how computers work. C++ lets you get hands-on with low-level programming concepts, and it helps you understand how computers think and operate. Other languages and programming concepts might make more sense to you after you learn C++.

Whether or not you want to learn to code in C++ for 2024 depends on your personal and career goals. In general, learning C++ will open up more opportunities for you as a developer.

Is C++ hard to learn?#

C++ is known to be one of the most difficult programming languages to learn over other popular languages like Python and Java. C++ is hard to learn because of its multi-paradigm nature and more advanced syntax. While it’s known to be especially difficult for beginners to learn, it’s also difficult for programmers with no experience with low-level languages. While it does take more time to write C++ code, the language has been modernized to present high-level abstractions. These abstractions can be used to code very efficiently. You can write code quickly with C++ 14, C++ 17, and C++ 20.

While some developers suggest learning C before C++, others argue that if you’re interested in working with C++ in your career or in personal projects, there’s no need to dedicate time to learning C (unless you want to, of course!). If you’re completely new to programming, it’s important to learn computer programming in a language-agnostic way. There are many fundamental concepts that are critical to software development as a whole. You can set yourself up for success by learning those fundamentals first, so you can dive into a language feeling prepared and confident.

Many developers believe that learning C++ can help you learn some other languages, like Java, C#, Python, or Go, a lot more easily.

How can I start learning C++?#

The best way to learn a programming language is to jump right in. As mentioned before, the way in which you start learning C++ will depend on where you’re at as a developer. If you’re completely new to programming, we suggest that you take the time to familiarize yourself with fundamental programming concepts so that you can approach a new language with a more solid foundation. When you’re ready to dive into C++, there are many resources available to you.

There’s no shortage of C++ tutorials and C++ courses you can take to further your learning. If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll want to begin with C++ basics, such as arrays, constructors, and iterators. This C++ beginners tutorial will help you get started with the fundamentals. If you’ve already learned the basics, this intermediate C++ tutorial explores intermediate concepts such as pointers, vectors, and maps.

C++ career opportunities#

As a C++ programmer, you’ll have many different job opportunities to choose from. Many top tech companies are looking for engineers with C++ experience. Let’s take a look at some of the job opportunities offered by those companies, along with the average salary for those positions (software engineer) based on data from levels.fyi

Get started with C++ today#

The C++ programming language remains one of the most popular languages in software engineering and computer science. While it’s known to have a steep learning curve, it’s a widely used low-level programming language used to build many relevant applications. There are many benefits to learning a language that’s close to bare metal because it helps you better understand how computers work.

Therefore, there’s no better time than now to learn C++! Kick-start your programming journey with Educative’s course.

The lessons presented are carefully crafted to be simple and easily understandable, even for those with little to no prior programming knowledge. This course will provide you with a solid foundation by introducing fundamental concepts of programming, including:

• Declaring and using variables
• Making decisions
• Performing repeated tasks
• Understanding arrays and strings
• Reusing the code with functions

So why wait? Get started on your programming journey today and start learning C++!

Happy learning!