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Setting up C++ Development Environment

C++ Tutorial | Learn C++ Programming

Last Updated : 18 Mar, 2025

C++ is a popular programming language that was developed as an extension of the C programming language to include OOPs programming paradigm. Since then, it has become foundation of many modern technologies like game engines, web browsers, operating systems, financial systems, etc.

features-of-cpp

Features of C++

Why Learn C++?

C++ is often taught as a foundational language to aspiring programmers, but it is much more than that:

C++ remains one of the most used and popular programming languages used in making operating systems, embedded systems, graphical user interfaces and nowadays in High Frequency Trading (HFT) software.
It supports both low-level and high-level features such as manual memory management and OOPs programming respectively.
Syntax similarity with C, Java, and C# makes it easier to switch languages.
C++ provides one of the fastest execution speeds among high level languages, which can be a deciding factor in Competitive Programming or high-performance applications.

C++ Tutorial

This C++ tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to learn C++ in a well-organized, step-by-step manner. It is suitable for both absolute beginners and seasoned programmers seeking to deepen their knowledge. Each topic in this tutorial is clearly explained with practical code examples and real-world applications.

First C++ Program

Before going in-depth with this C++ tutorial, let’s have a quick intro to C++ language using a simple program that prints the text “Hello World”. You can run this program by clicking on the play button on the top right of the code snippet.

C++

#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main() { cout << "Hello World!"; return 0; }

Output

Hello World!

Let’s start now!

C++ Overview

C++ Basics

C++ Control Flow

C++ Functions

C++ Pointers

C++ Arrays

C++ Strings

C++ Structures and Unions

C++ Dynamic Memory

C++ OOPS Concepts

C++ Exception Handling

C++ Files and Streams

C++ Templates

C++ STL

C++ Preprocessors

Advanced C++

C++ Interview Questions

Difference Between C and C++

Feature	C	C++
Type	Procedural Programming Language	Middle-level Language that supports both Procedural and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
Paradigm	Procedural only	Multi-paradigm: Supports Procedural, Object-Oriented, and Generic Programming
Data Security	Less secure as it supports only procedural programming	More secure due to features like encapsulation, which hides data
Use of Classes and Objects	Does not support classes and objects	Supports classes and objects, enabling Object-Oriented Programming
Memory Management	Manual memory management using functions like `malloc` and `free`	Supports both manual (using `malloc`/`free`) and automatic memory management (using constructors/destructors and `new`/`delete` keywords)
Function Overloading	Does not support function overloading	Supports function overloading, allowing multiple functions with the same name but different parameters
Exception Handling	Does not support exception handling	Supports exception handling using `try`, `catch`, and `throw` keywords
Namespace	No namespace feature	Supports namespaces to avoid name collisions
Input/Output Functions	Uses standard input/output functions like `scanf` and `printf`	Uses object-oriented input/output streams like `cin` and `cout`
Inheritance	No support for inheritance	Supports inheritance, allowing classes to inherit properties and methods from other classes
Template Support	No support for templates	Supports templates, enabling generic programming
Dynamic Binding	Does not support dynamic binding	Supports dynamic binding using virtual functions
Header File Extensions	Uses `.h` file extension for header files	Uses `.hpp` or `.h` file extensions for header files
Compatibility	Generally limited to C programming	Backward compatible with C, allowing C code to run in C++ programs
Application Domain	Mainly used for system programming, embedded systems, and low-level programming	Widely used in game development, GUI applications, real-time simulations, and system/software development

Learn C++ Interactively

If you feel overwhelmed and looking for a simpler guide to learn C++, then you can explore GFG Free C++ Programming Language Guide. It is simple guide which discuss the basic components of the language first and provide quizzes and practice questions after each concept to help you master it. It also contains final assessment tests at the end of the tutorial.

Jobs or Careers in C++

If we see the Statista report, then you will see that after Java and C#, C++ will be one of the most used programming languages in 2023. In the list of the most used languages, 22.42% of developers use this language. There are multiple companies seeking proficient C++ developers; some of them are listed below:

Setting up C++ Development Environment

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