15+ Best PluralSight Courses & Certifications Online in 2023
Best Artificial Intelligence Courses 2023
PluralSight is one of the best online education platforms that is focused mainly on technology courses.
Contrary to other platforms like Udemy that try to be everything for everyone, on PluralSight you’ll only find courses for learning to code, building machine learning models, and for launching a career in cybersecurity.
That being said, with a collection of more than 7,000+ courses to choose from, finding the best PluralSight courses to take can be challenging.
Not to forget that there are also learning paths and exam preps as well.
In this article, we are going to look at the best PluralSight courses for beginners to get started with in 2023.
We’ll be focusing on the courses that will either help you launch a successful career in tech, or help upgrade your skills if you are already in the industry. So we’ll review courses in coding, cloud computing, cybersecurity and project management.
Let’s get started.
1. Angular Course: Getting Started for Beginners
If you are dreaming of becoming a great front end developer then getting your Angular skills up to speed is indispensable.
This is because Angular is one of the most popular open source frameworks today for front end web development. Through this amazing framework you’ll be able to create decoupled components and amazing user interfaces.
I’d say this course by Deborah Kurata is the best PluralSight course for learning Angular development in 2023.
Once you take this online training, you’ll master how to create great web applications while staying up to date with the trending app development technologies.
Some of the topics you’ll learn include setting up your development environment, using Angular components, templates, as well as data binding techniques.
It is not a beginner friend course though because the instructor assumes previous experience with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. So you’d need to brush up on these skills, and some object oriented concepts before taking this course.
2. Java EE: Getting Started
For several years in a row, Java has held the place of the most in demand programming language, followed closely by Python and JavaScript.
Now couple Java for the backend with a JavaScript framework like Angular for the front end and you’ve become a rockstar full stack developer, a skill that will definitely open more work opportunities for you today.
In this course you’ll learn how to build a Java EE powered back-end RESTful API while adding an Angular front end to it.
It is one of the best PluralSight courses in 2023 for learning how to turn a blank page into an amazing distributed web application.
You’ll begin by setting up your development environment, then move into relational database management, and then finish off by exposing your business domain through a RESTful API.
So at the end of this course you’ll know how to build REST API’s in Java, with an Angular front end to consume it.
3. Python 3: Beyond the Basics
Like I mentioned above, Python is one of the most popular programming languages, thanks to its simple syntax and short learning curve.
In this course you’ll take a step further with Python by going beyond the basics to deepen your knowledge of this popular and dynamic web programming and data science language.
Remember it’s Python 3, not Python 2, if you know the difference.
So again if you are completely new to Python then I recommend you first start with a more fundamentals focused, beginner friendly course.
Here, you’ll focus on honing the skills you need to create a stable and readable enterprise application of any size and functionality.
By the time you finish this course you’ll be familiar with most of Python’s techniques and programming constructs that you can implement in your programs. You’ll also discover the best tools for maximizing the quality of your code, while boosting your productivity as a Python developer.
4. Become a Full-stack .NET Developer – Advanced Topics
How would you like to become a full-stack .NET developer?
Microsoft .NET is a very popular framework for building secure enterprise applications and you’d be hard pressed to find a great C# .NET developer who doesn’t have work.
This is one of the best PluralSight courses for .NET that will help you improve your front-end and back-end skills as a .NET developer. It even includes more advanced topics like CRUD operations and object oriented programming.
The instructor of this course, Mosh Hamedani, takes you through a systematic approach to building scalable web applications using the famous .NET framework.
Some of the technologies you’ll be focusing on include ASP.NET MVC, Web API, Entity Framework, Bootstrap 3, HTML5 and CSS3.
To turn your project idea into a real application, you’ll start off with a plain paper requirements document, break it down into definite tasks, then build the entire application, group up, following the Agile development methodology.
5. The Fundamentals of Server Virtualization
Most distributed applications today will benefit greatly from server virtualization in order to be accessible to their user bases at all times.
It is for this reason that most renowned data centers are leveraging the power of server virtualization to gain efficiency and deliver exceptional services, while keeping the costs down.
This is one of the best PluralSight courses in 2023 that will help you discover what server virtualization really is, and how it will benefit your business.
By taking this fundamentals of server virtualization course, you’ll learn the architecture behind virtualization, while seeing it in action in a datacenter and on your desktop.
You’ll learn how companies move applications running on physical hosts onto the virtual machine equivalents. You’ll also pick up skills on how to test and deploy virtualized servers.
Finally, you’ll explore the different options available when building a server virtualization lab of your own, while reaping all the benefits that come along with virtualization.
6. Docker and Kubernetes Course: The Big Picture
Kubernetes is one of the best systems available for deploying containerized applications.
This Docker and Kubernetes introductory training is one of the best PluralSight courses that will get your and your team up to speed with this transformational technology, that is changing the way we build, ship and manage cloud based applications today.
You’ll start off by looking at the fundamentals of Docker and Kubernetes, the basics of what a container really is and how it powers scalable cloud-native apps.
Then you’ll dive deeper into their actual roles and how they work.
Finally, you’ll look at how to set up your team and your organization as a whole to thrive in a containerized applications environment. By the time you finish this course you’ll be ready to take your business through a real container journey.
Nigel, the course instructor, has a ton of experience managing large scale solutions in demanding corporate environments, so you’ll learn from one of the best.
7. Ansible Course: Fundamentals
Ansible is an IT automation tool, written in the Python language that uses a declarative markup language to describe Linux system configurations.
In this Ansible fundamentals course you’ll learn how to use the core features of Ansible in order to run IT automation tasks on your Linux based systems and servers.
It is a very efficient tool for automating management tasks on Linux based computer systems today.
This Ansible training on PluralSight teaches you how to write Ansible Playbooks, then use command line tools to deploy, manage, and confirm if your networked servers are correctly configured. This way task automation becomes easily repeatable and scalable.
Some of the other topics you’ll cover include managing the inventory, using Jinja2 templates and filters, working with roles for automation reuse, as well as running one off tasks with ad hoc commands.
This course is brought to you by Reh Hat, the very company behind the open source Ansible tool.
8. Configuring and Managing Kubernetes Security
Application security is always at the top of the discussion list when it comes to containerized applications.
This PluralSight course for developers will teach you the fundamentals for configuring and managing security on Kubernetes clusters.
In order to secure access to your Kubernetes clusters you need to master Kubernetes security fundamentals, as well as know how authentication and authorization work to control any kind of access to the Kubernetes API.
This also includes looking into how Kubernetes uses certificates so you can create and manage these certificates in your cluster.
Finally, there are lessons that take you through controlling access to the Kubernetes API through roles based access controls. So you’ll be able to operate and manage security in any kind of Kubernetes cluster.
It is also a great course for preparing for the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) certification. You’ll need this certificate to qualify for most junior jobs in software development and deployment.
9. Understanding Ethical Hacking
How would you like to launch a successful career in ethical hacking?
Ethical hackers are in high demand today, because black hat hackers have become more sophisticated, thanks to cloud computing and remote working.
But unlike software development, where certifications are not held in high regard, you’ll need to become certified in order to qualify for an ethical hacking job. And the Certified Ethical Hacker certificate by EC Council is the best place to start.
This is the best PluralSight certification course that will teach you how to use the same skills and tools as a malicious hacker to probe and discover weaknesses in your company computer systems.
You’ll also learn the foundational hacking terminology, hacking techniques, concepts and boundaries that all ethical hackers have to adhere to.
There are also lessons on current cyber attack trends, indicators of compromise (IOC), the five main phases of hacking, and tips for preparing for the CEH 312-50 exam.
10. Web Application Penetration Testing Fundamentals
Deploying a web application that has not been thoroughly tested means exposing yourself and sensitive company data to possible attacks and breaches, something that will affect the normal running of the business.
So as a software developer or security professional, you have to invest as well in web application penetration testing to ensure everyone can have a peaceful night’s sleep.
In this web application pentesting course on PluralSight you’ll learn the fundamental loopholes hackers seek to exploit and the key to defending your product and business from these malicious attacks.
Understanding how an application can be attacked is the first step to securing it, and that’s why this course first takes you through the framework of a successful web application penetration test.
You’ll explore everything that goes into pre-engagement, then learn the techniques for footprinting your application and web servers, and then examine common attacks based on user input that developers allow through flawed coding logic.
11. Cyber Security Essentials: Your Role in Protecting the Company
How can you stay safe online?
In this cyber security essentials course you’ll learn how to keep yourself and your organization safe from looming cyber threats and data breaches.
As a cybersecurity professional it is very important to know the extent of damage cyber attacks can inflict on your organization so that you can be the most vigilant in ensuring that you don’t leave any stones unturned when it comes to the security of your networks. This includes protecting your very team from social engineering attacks.
This is one of the best PluralSight courses in 2023 that will teach you how to protect the user accounts on your systems both at work and at home.
You’ll get to discover the various ways cyber criminals work and how blocking simple loopholes in your system can stop them right in their tracks.
At the end of this course you’ll be very well equipped to protect yourself and your organization from cyber risks.
12. Introduction to Networking for Cisco CCNA
One of the best ways to launch a successful career in cyber security is to take the most coveted CCNA certification.
This introduction to networking for Cisco CCNA is actually one of the courses that will help you prepare for the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification exam.
Here you’ll be introduced to the basic components of a functional data network, which include networking models and network addressing. This will enable you to understand how basic human communication, like talking to someone on the phone, apply the same concepts used in transferring data across the network.
You’ll learn how breaking down the communication process into its components helps understand data transfer protocols and networking.
Some of the other topics you’ll cover include TCP/IP and OSI networking models, encapsulation, network addressing, and data packets at different points in the communication process.
Finally, you’ll also discover the history and birth of high speed data transfer.
13. Agile in the Real World
How do you ensure your software development projects are delivered on time, and within budget?
If you are a project manager or a team lead then you know how important getting everyone in your team to play an integral role in your main project is key.
Agile project management methodologies come in to facilitate product development in a dynamic environment where customer needs and business demands keep evolving by the day.
This is one of the most popular PluralSight courses for learning how to implement Agile technologies into your organization and team.
By taking this Agile training course you’ll master how to make the best of Agile methodologies by successfully applying them to your team in a way that brings real measurable results.
So instead of simply focusing on how Agile methodologies are great on paper, you’ll actually break it down into concrete strategies that can be implemented.
14. Introduction to Emotional Intelligence
What’s the place of emotional intelligence in the modern workplace?
If you want to be an effective leader who can get everyone on their team to pull in the same direction, mastering how to leverage people’s emotions to get them on your side is indispensable.
In the real world, it is very common to let emotions run riot at the workplace, something that cripples the productive capacity of everyone on the team.
Through this emotional intelligence course you’ll learn to be aware of, to control, and to express your emotions appropriately so that you can handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically, both in your personal life and at the workplace.
I’d recommend this course particularly if you struggle to control your emotions to the extent that you don’t perform at your very best.
In fact, just by understanding how the brain works when processing emotions, you can increase your EQ (emotional quotient) by a great margin.
15. Beginner’s Guide to Project Management
If you are looking for a great beginner’s guide to project management then you’ve come to the right place.
This is one of the best PluralSight certification courses that will teach you how to lead projects with confidence, while developing and meeting your requirements.
It is the first course in the CompTIA Project+ PluralSight learning path that introduces you to the core principles of effective project management. You’ll learn how to deliver your projects on time and within the budget.
You’ll begin by looking into the roles and responsibilities associated with the project landscape. Then you’ll explore the different ways an organizational structure impacts effective project management.
To finish it off, you’ll explore ways effective project managers can balance the constraints that often come along with projects of different sizes.
Once you finish this course you’ll have a proper understanding of the fundamentals of project management, while being ready to face the CompTIA Project+ certification exam.
16. Cloud Computing Fundamentals Course
Cloud computing is inevitable for the modern enterprise.
Most applications are so demanding in terms of resources and processing power needs that most bootstrapped companies resort to leveraging cloud storage and cloud computing resources to run their applications.
In this best selling PluralSight course you’ll learn what cloud computing really is, how it works to make distributed computing a reality, and its different forms.
This fundamentals of cloud computing training opens your eyes into how IT professionals and businesses of any size can leverage the different forms of cloud computing to make their enterprises more competitive and resilient to cyber attacks.
The instructor takes you through a number of hands-on demos of different cloud computing solutions in use today.
Some of the terms you’ll encounter are infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS).
At the end you’ll be able to roll out a secure and robust cloud computing solution for your entire organization.
17. Microsoft Azure Cloud Computing Course
Like I mentioned in the previous course, every organization worth its salt is considering including cloud computing as part of their growth strategy today.
This need has also seen the rise of many cloud computing solution providers like Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS and Google Cloud platforms.
In this course you’ll learn the basics of cloud computing and how it can benefit your organization, with focus on the Microsoft Azure platform.
Basically, you’ll explore the basics of cloud computing at a general level, establishing its place in the modern enterprise, then examining how the Microsoft Azure platform fits into each of the various types of cloud offerings.
There are also lessons on the different cloud computing deployment models in use by small and medium size businesses.
Finally, you’ll get a clear picture of the crucial role cloud computing plays in the startup arena, while also establishing the differences between public, private, and community clouds.
18. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: Exam Prep
Not to be left out when talking about cloud computing is Amazon AWS.
If you’d like to get a job as a cloud computing professional then the AWS cloud practitioner certification is a must have.
This is the best PluralSight course for AWS that will help you prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, while utilizing all the knowledge contained in this PluralSight learning path.
By taking this course, you’ll have all the critical technical skills and non technical skills you need to pass this exam.
The instructor takes you through sample questions covering the main topics contained in this learning path. Here you’ll pick up some amazing techniques for evaluating questions and for time management during the certification exam.
With the help of these sample questions you’ll be able to evaluate your readiness for the final exam. It is important to ascertain that you’ve acquired the skills and knowledge to pass this exam before you actually sit for it.
19. Introduction to Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP®)
Last on this list of the best PluralSight courses in 2023 for learning cloud computing, let’s look at the certified cloud security professional certification training.
In this course you’ll learn how to select the best cloud computing service provider by evaluating your specific business requirements, as well as the ability to consume these services securely.
By considering both architecture and design, you’ll be able to choose a cloud service provider that actually aligns with your business requirements.
Through this course you’ll establish the fundamental knowledge you need to have to be able to translate your business requirements into a clear selection criteria when choosing your long term cloud service partner.
Once you know how to spot the cloud provider that meets your needs, you’ll learn to use security architecture to develop a secure use strategy that will ensure you meet all your regulatory requirements.
Finally, you’ll become the cloud architect your business has been looking for.
20. Understanding Machine Learning
Remember I said all courses on PluralSight are focused around tech?
Well there’s no talking about tech without mentioning anything on data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision.
Understanding Machine Learning is one of the best PluralSight courses for data science that provides you with a short and clear introduction to machine learning, with the objective of preparing you for a career in artificial intelligence.
The instructor of this course, David Chappell, takes you through a theoretical introduction of machine learning by defining what ML really is.
He then proceeds to introduce the popular open source programming language, R, which is common today among data scientists. Here you’ll learn about the basic structure of this language, as well as how to use it to train, test, and use your data model.
By the time you finish this PluralSight course you’ll have a clear understanding of what constitutes machine learning and how to advance from here.
21. TensorFlow Course: Build, Train, and Deploy Your First Neural Network
Contrary to the previous ML course that was more about theory, here’s a true practical hands-on course for machine learning.
Without mincing words, the instructor of this course, Jerry Kurata, takes you step by step through building, training, and deploying your very first neural network using the popular open source platform, Tensorflow 2.
You’ll begin by exploring the basic principles of machine learning and neural networks.
By taking this course, you’ll discover how Tensorflow makes it easy for software engineers to develop their own neural-network based machine learning models, just after learning the foundational machine learning basics.
Once you learn how to make your machine learning models learn from data, you’ll apply these skills in developing a neural network that can actually predict the class of clothing in any random image.
At the end of this course you’ll be able to deploy your own neural networks, with predictive capabilities, to your client applications.
22. Building Machine Learning Models in Spark 2
In addition to Tensorflow, Apache Spark is another one of the amazing platforms that enable you to build and train viable machine learning models.
Before we go any further, you have to know that building and training real machine learning models is a very resource intensive operation, requiring immense computing power, so you’ll have to resort to a distributed computing environment to succeed.
This PluralSight course teaches you how to use Spark to efficiently perform data explorations, cleaning, and aggregations while training your machine learning models, all on the same platform.
You’ll be working with models like regression, classification, clustering and recommender systems.
In order to make the learning process more practical, you’ll scrutinize a classification model that was built using Decision Trees the old style, then implement the same data model on the newer Spark.ml library.
There are also lessons on using advanced components like transformers, estimators, and parameters within your ML pipelines.
23. SQL Server Course: Fundamentals
SQL databases form the foundation of most large scale enterprise applications.
Whenever your application needs to implement any dynamic functionality like authentication, the need for a database to store this data immediately arises. Similar to when you need to analyze large amounts of data, as you’ll first need to store it.
In this PluralSight course in 2023 you’ll learn the SQL server fundamentals you need to get started working with structured databases.
I’d recommend this course if you are a C# developer who uses the SQL server in your applications.
The course instructor, Dan Sullivan, who is an indepent big data consultant, teaches you how to use T-SQL, the CLR and XML to efficiently manage SQL database server operations and security.
Some of the other topics you’ll cover include using GROUP BY clauses, hierarchies, and managing query plans.
You’ll then finish off with lessons on recursions, pivoting, and data sampling.
24. SQL on Hadoop – Analyzing Big Data with Hive
Hadoop is another one of the amazing tools that you’ll hear mentioned every now and then among big data enthusiasts.
This SQL on Hadoop course, that teaches you how to analyze big data with Hive, is another one of the best PluralSight courses to take in 2023.
I’d particularly recommend it to you if you are a data science student.
In this course, you’ll learn the Hive query language by applying it to solving commonplace big data problems.
But before you dive into Hive, the instructor takes you through a thorough introduction to distributed computing, the Hadoop ecosystem, and some MapReduce fundamentals.
Through this Hive SQL course you’ll move from a regular developer to an actual analyst by first establishing why this technology exists, and then exploring various ways of getting the most out of it using this SQL-like query language.
You’ll also be solving some real production problems using Apache Hive to cement your learning.
25. Building Your First Power BI Report
Can you talk about data analysis without mentioning Power BI?
Power BI is a powerful Microsoft data visualization tool that enables you to analyze and visualize data in order to derive actionable insights from it.
This course will show you the ropes when it comes to building your first Power BI report.
The instructor introduces you to the key features of Microsoft Power BI that you’ll need to load and structure your data so that you can build simple dashboards and reports.
You’ll then proceed to publish your work to the Power BI cloud service, as well as use reports elements to efficiently build a dashboard.
Other lessons include importing your Excel workbook into Power BI, then fixing the data to make it more usable for reporting. This way, you’ll be able to add data visualizations and amazing static report elements to your reports so you can explore the data from multiple perspectives.
Conclusion
I think this list has some very amazing courses for anyone in the tech industry who would either like to acquire new capabilities or upgrade old rusty skills.
This list of the best PluralSight courses online is not exhaustive though, as there are thousands of other courses on this amazing platform.
If you want to launch a successful career in front end web development, then I recommend the Angular Course: Getting Started for Beginners course because it teaches you JavaScript, the most in demand web programming language.
Otherwise, the Beginner’s Guide to Project Management is a great option if you’d like to push your team’s productivity levels to the roof, and get real results for your organization.
The best way to use this platform is to get started with one course and assess your experience. If you like the instructor, their teaching approach, and the support the platform provides you, you can add on another additional course, otherwise, there are other platforms like Edx that are also worth trying.
Have you taken any of these PluralSight courses before?
Please share your comments in the comments below.
