The best C++ courses to kickstart your software development career

Our list of the best C++ courses aims to provide an overview of what's available on the market today. Leaners will be in different stages of development, and so we've tried to cater for a variety of experiences.

An extension of the C language, C++ is a popular object-oriented programming language that's used across operating systems and web browsers, as well as in language compilers and interpreters, gaming engines and apps, graphics, banking applications, and much more.

According to Statista, C++ is in the top ten most used programming languages globally and it’s unlikely to disapear anytime soon. With this in mind, learning C++ is a fantastic place to begin if you want to establish a career in programming.

To help you get started, we’ve assembled a list of the best C++ courses available, for absolute beginners through to the more advanced.

The best C++ courses

Beginning C++ Programming - From Beginner to Beyond

Provider: Tim Buchalka, et al (via Udemy)

Price: $119.99 (£59.99)

Course link: Beginning C++ Programming - From Beginner to Beyond

Course length: Over 46 hours

In this course, you’ll learn modern C++ through 46 hours of video content and 75 downloadable resources, plus quizzes, coding exercises and assignments.

You’ll be taught C++ features from the basics to more advanced inheritance and polymorphic functions, as well as key concepts of programming that apply to other languages.

You’ll also learn about using C++ lambda expressions and how to use Visual Studio Code with C++ – a recent addition to the course.

Learn C++ from Scratch

Provider: Educative

Price: Free

Course link: Learn C++ from Scratch

Course length: Ten hours

This free interactive course is broken up into nine sections, starting with a simple ‘hello world’ program. It then moves on to cover core concepts such as conditional statements, loops, and functions in C++, plus advanced topics like inheritance, classes, and templates.

You’ll learn through quizzes and challenges, and three ‘exams’ assess your competence. By the time you're done, Educative states you'll be an intermediate level C++ developer.

C++ Programming: Essential Techniques and Best Practices for Developers

Provider: Bill Weinman (via LinkedIn Learning)

Price: £25

Course link: C++ Programming: Essential Techniques and Best Practices for Developers

Course length: Four hours

This course covers the history of C++ and modern C++, explaining the C++ toolchain before diving into topics like syntax, statements and expressions, identifiers, variables, pointers, and references.

Areas of focus include flow control conditionals, loops, data types, operators, and functions, as well as classes and objects. You’ll also learn how to use templates, including STL.

This is a great course for both beginners and advanced users, covering a solid range of topics in impressive detail.

Unreal Engine C++ Developer: Learn C++ and Make Video Games

Provider: Ben Tristem, GameDev.tv Team (via Udemy)

Price: $139.99 (£59.99)

Course link: Unreal Engine 5 C++ Developer: Learn C++ & Make Video Games

Course length: 39.5 hours

Love games and fancy having a go at creating your own? Well, Udemy has you covered. This course teaches you the game design principles you need to create and mod video games using Unreal Engine 5 – even if you're a complete beginner.

You’ll be taught C++ through project-based learning, creating different kinds of games including ‘Toon Tanks’ and a simple first-person shooter (FPS).

By the end of the course, you'll be very confident in the basics of coding and game development, and hungry to learn more. If you're a complete beginner, this will teach you all the coding and game design principles you'll need.

C++ For C Programmers, Part A

Provider: Ira Pohl, UC Santa Cruz (via Coursera)

Price: $49 (£38)

Course link: C++ For C Programmers, Part A

Course length: 13 hours

This course is designed for experienced C programmers who want to learn how to program in C++, and so the examples and exercises require a basic understanding of algorithms and object-oriented software.

Through the five modules – two in C, two in C++, and then a final exam – you’ll learn how to convert programs, apply the principles of Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm and use basic container classes.

Developed by the University of California, Santa Cruz, this is part of a larger Coding for Everyone: C and C++ Specialization course.

IBM: Data Structures & Algorithms Using C++

Provider: Josephine Simi N.A., et al (via edX)

Price: Free - optional paid upgrade available

Course link: IBM: Data Structures & Algorithms Using C++

Course length: Eight weeks

This intermediate level course, taught by professionals from IBM, discusses the characteristics of commonly used data structures and algorithms and how to implement them in order to conduct efficiency analyses in C++ from scratch.

Amongst other things, you’ll gain experience with various algorithms required to build efficient programs, and learn how to measure the efficiency of the program you’ve written.

Google's C++ Class

Provider: Google

Price: Free

Course link: Google's C++ Class

Course length: Self-paced

One of the best ways to learn how to program in a new language is by examining lots of example programs. Google’s informal class does just that – it gets straight to the point, teaching you the basics of C++ through practical application.

The best thing to do is to copy and paste each program below into a text file, and compile it. Then, try the experiments. By extending these example programs, you’ll gain familiarity with various aspects of C++, and you’ll feel more confident when it comes time to write programs from scratch.

Practice is key to success in this class, which over time goes into more depth, ending with a quiz (read test) for you to see if you’ve understood everything you’ve learnt. Simple, yet very effective.

C++ Nanodegree Program

Provider: David Silver, et al (via Udacity)

Price: $249 (£194) per month / $2,390 (£1,862) per year

Course link: C++ nanodegree program

Course length: Four months, at ten hours per week

This nanodegree program is broken down into six courses, covering everything from the foundations of C++ and object-oriented programming through to memory management and concurrency.

The course includes learning how to build a route planner using OpenStreetMap data, write a process monitor for your computer, implement smart pointers, and build a multithreaded traffic simulator.

You’ll end by building your own application following the principles you’ve learnt, or can choose to take an optional seventh course, which focuses on career services, with support optimizing your GitHub and LinkedIn profiles.