Targeting applications across the C family of languages, security education company Safelight has released a new on-demand software developer course entitled Secure C/C++ Coding.

Structured around scenario-based tasks for learning, this course sets out to provide programmers with a deeper knowledge of common software bugs, understand how these flaws are exploited, and use coding best practices to proactively reduce software vulnerabilities.

"There's a lot of C and C++ code out there in legacy systems and embedded applications and many C and C++ developers may not be trained in today's secure coding practices because they learned to code at a time when application security wasn't a focus and systems weren't connected via the Internet," said Safelight CEO Rob Cheyne.

Safelight suggests that C and C++ languages pose tough challenges when it comes to security because applications have "direct access" to memory and system resources.

"A mistake in C/C++ typically has many more repercussions than other programming languages and there are potentially many more mistakes that can be made," said Cheyne.

Presented in five units, Safelight's new course provides opportunities to interact with multiple code examples, follow pieces of code through a secure software development process, understand their security implications, and discover secure coding best practices.

Lesson units include: Introduction to Secure C/C++ Coding, Memory Corruption Bugs, Design Bugs, Privacy and Secrets, and Securing Code.