Coding is undoubtedly among the greatest skills anyone can have in the current digital era. With the advancing and increased use of technology, programming has become an important skill, mostly because most websites and apps depend on it. That said, C++ is among the commonly used programming languages that most students in kid’s coding classes easily wonder whether they should start learning it or not.
Beginners may find it challenging because it has a lot of mathematics; this can easily be discouraging. However, once students grasp the fundamentals of this language, everything becomes a breeze.
Why C++?
As mentioned, C++ has a rather steep learning curve but does wonders for kids who are just getting started with their programming careers. If introduced into your kid’s education, C++ can help kids improve their problem-solving skills and create a good base for learning other fundamentals of programming. It also helps your kids develop good coding habits, leading to consistent coding styles.
Generally, this is a case-sensitive language used in various general programs. C++ supports both generic, object-oriented, and procedural coding with high and low-level language features, thus also referred to as middle-level language. It is a good coding language for students with aspirations of programming in the gaming industry and teens looking to understand complex programming principles.
Like any other kid-friendly programming language, C++ is good for kids for the following two reasons;
- It is easily accessible – scary-looking coding language is a no for kids. Passing low-level memory management is also challenging. Languages with historic baggage are typically attached to clunky models and require awkward deployment steps, thus failing accessibility tests.
- It is practical – this typically means that you should be able to use the first programming language after learning to create a substantial project. Kids can also share C++ concepts with their friends easily.
What is C++ Used to Create?
C++ is basically used to create a wide range of performance-focused application programs. Some of the real-world applications of this language include;
- Games and Game Engines – C++ powers intensive CPU functions and can override complexities associated with 3D games and multi-layer networking. It is because of these benefits that make the language a primary choice for game development and gaming suites.
- Internet Browsers – Most web browsers use C++ for rendering functions. Rendering search engines should execute faster since most people don’t like web pages that take time to load. The fast performance features of C++ make it a suitable programming language for browsers.
- GUI-based apps – C++ also powers most GUI-based and desktop apps, such as Adobe Systems and AMP media players.
- Operating systems – The fast and strongly-typed nature of C++ makes it suitable for developing various operating systems, including Apple OS and Microsoft Windows. The language also has a wide array of system-level functions that make it easy to write low-level programs.
- Database software – C++ also comes in handy in creating database management software, especially Postgres and MySQL.
- Advanced graphics and computation – C++ is perfect for developing apps that require high-performance graphic processing, mobile sensor apps, real-time simulations, and other functionalities that require excellent speed and performance.
Common C++ Terms
Students should understand the following C++ terms to ease their learning curve;
- Keywords – these are names used to identify items within a code. They are identifiers of specific objects, actions, and variables. Kids can also make their specific keywords to ease the learning process.
- Variables – these are more containers used to store specific values. To declare any item a variable, it should have a value and be typed using correct keywords. All the variables used in C++ have names or identifiers.
Tools Used in Programming C++
To create successful C++ programs and improve programming skills, the following tools are important;
- Text editors – these are word-like documents used to write codes. Common built-in text editors include Notepad, Bluefish, and Sublime.
- Compilers – are important tools that work with source codes to perform several tasks, such as checking how the code flows and translate codes to object files.
- Linker – after compilers complete their tasks, object files are sent to linked programs where all object files are combined into one program, library files are linked to the program, and names and references of cross-files are exposed.
- Libraries – this describes a collection of codes that can be used severally. C++ library is called the standard library.
- Integrated development environment – most C++ programmers use IDE instead of compilers and text editors.
Bottom Line
Like any other programming language, learning C++ can be challenging for a beginner. However, it is a kid-friendly language for several reasons. It is an appropriate coding language for kids who want to grow and become coding geniuses. Sign up at the Coder School if you want your kid to learn to code with C++ seamlessly and interactively.