Udacity has a special offer in time for the holidays - when hopefully you'll have some time to take advantage of it. The deal is 70% off across all its programs when you pay in advance. So what to choose. How about C++?

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Although C++ is among the top five programming languages, you won't find many highly recommended opportunities to learn it online. It is seen as a difficult language, a reputation which it probably deserves, but as the promotional video for the C++ Nanodegree outlines, it is at the heart of many complex, high performance, systems: 

In the video Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of the language explains that C++ is used for the "foundational parts" of just about anything we do, saying:

"It sticks in between the higher-level software and the hardware and that's a much bigger part of the world that most people think. It's basically everywhere."

As David Silver, head of Udacity's School of Autonomous Systems,  puts it C++ is the common thread between self-driving cars, drones and  robotics and Udacity co-founder. If you are still not convinced of its worth, self-driving car pioneer, Sebastian Thrun adds:

“Self-driving cars would not be possible without C++. “I programmed the self-driving car that won the DARPA Grand Challenge using C++. The Google Self-Driving Car Project, now called Waymo, was launched with C++.”

The prerequisites for the program are intermediate knowledge of object-oriented programming in any language. The program comprises four courses and a Capstone Project:

• Course 1: C++ Foundations
• Course 2: Object-Oriented Programming
• Course 3: Memory Management
• Course 4: Concurrency
• Capstone Project: Build Your Own C++ App

Each of the four courses culminate in a  C++ project: 

• Build an OpenStreetMap Route Planner
  The first course covers basic C++ syntax, functions, containers, and how to compile and link with multiple files. Then, using OpenStreetMap and the 2D visualization library, IO2D, students will build a route planner that displays a path between two points on a map. By the end of this project, you’ll be able to select starting and ending areas on a city map and find a path along the city streets to connect the start and end.
  
  
• Build a System Monitor Using Object-Oriented Programming
  The second course covers the essentials of OOP, like abstraction and inheritance, as well as advanced topics, like polymorphism and templates. You’ll synthesize your skills to build a Linux system monitor application to demonstrate OOP in action! Not only will you gain more familiarity with the Linux operating system, but you’ll also gain insights into how a collection of objects can function together in C++ to form a complete application.
  
  
• Build Smart Pointers 
  The third course covers the complexity of memory management by diving into stack vs. heap, pointers, references, new, delete, and more. For this project, you’ll synthesize all the memory management concepts you’ve worked with to build a smart pointer and compare it to the native implementation.
  
  
• Build a Chatbot 
  Concurrency is an advanced programming technique that, when properly implemented, can dramatically accelerate your programs. Having learned about it students will build a multithreaded chatbot that can carry hundreds of conversations simultaneously!  

The Pay As You Go cost for this 4-month program would be $15,396 so paying upfront with a 70% discount is a big saving. The program opens on December 7th and to claim the discount enrol and use the code HAPPYHOLIDAYS22 at checkout. 

 If you are not ready to tackle C++ then Udacity's beginner level Introduction To Programming Nanodegree, a 4-month program, also restarts tomorrow and is included in the deal. Or if you want to go further with Python how about the Intermediate Python Nanodegree, which is just 2 months in length?

More Information

C++ Nanodegree

Udacity Nanodegrees

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