C++ is a high-level cross-platform general-purpose programming language. It was created at Bell Labs by Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension to the C programming language. C++ employed the object-oriented programming concepts introduced in the 1960s with the Simula 1 and Simula 67 languages. Bjarne Stroustrup described the language as a general-purpose programming language with a bias towards systems programming that is a better C and supports data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming. C++ is a language for defining and using lightweight abstractions. It supports user-defined functions, and the source code is easy to read. C++ is portable, scalable, and compatible with C programs. It is object-oriented, includes memory management, and allows for low-level manipulation. Finally, C++ has a large community support, making it relatively easy to find resources.

C++ is widely used for building applications, games, animations, and web browsers, as well as accessing data in databases and developing tools like compilers and operating systems. Because C++ produces high-performance code, it is used in banking operations for trading and in airline flight control systems. Game developers like Blizzard choose C++ for its rich GUI libraries and low-level functions allowing developers to code at the hardware level. Although many languages can be useful for cybersecurity, C++ plays an especially important role. This is mainly because C++ is a powerful, low-level programming language that can access hardware and low-level IT infrastructure, such as RAM and system processes, which are often most vulnerable to hacking attacks. Some of the famous applications that used C++ in their development are Adobe Photoshop, Spotify, Google’s YouTube, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, and Microsoft Windows OS.

Even though C++ is a 30-year-old programming language with a steep learning curve, it is still useful to learn. While more modern higher-level languages will allow you to build a project quicker and easier, there are some applications where the speed and efficiency you can get from C++ are in high demand. Many game developers, especially when developing 3D games, prefer to use C++ because of its performance. C++ code is also used extensively with embedded systems, where it may be the only language you can use for a lot of hardware. C++ is also important to learn because so many other programming languages use its syntax; even if you never write an application in C++, the knowledge is translatable to programming languages like Java, C#, JavaScript and PHP.