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USACO Guide
A free collection of curated, high-quality resources
to take you from Bronze to Platinum and beyond.
Learn USACO. Efficiently.
Stop wasting time searching for problems and tutorials. The USACO Guide provides a comprehensive, organized roadmap carefully designed and crafted for USACO contestants – available to everyone, for free.
| Resources | ||
|---|---|---|
| CF | EDU: DSU | video explanation + problems for DSU |
| CSA | Disjoint Data Sets | both optimizations, diagrams |
| PAPS | 11.1 - Disjoint Sets | both optimizations, no diagrams |
| CPH | 15.2 - Union-Find | small to large, diagrams |
Curated Resources
Learn new topics from a vetted list of high-quality resources. If one resource doesn't click, look at another!
| Source | Problem Name | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| CSES | Road Construction | Easy |
| USACO Gold | Closing the Farm | Easy |
| USACO Gold | Mootube | Normal |
| Baltic OI | 2016 - Park | Hard |
Extensive Problemsets
Practice each topic with extensive problemsets and solutions covering a wide range of difficulties.
Modules Progress
Progress Tracking
Use our progress-tracking tools to track your progress in the Guide and stay motivated.
Trusted by thousands.
This guide is written by top USACO contestants, including two-time IOI winner and USACO Problemsetter Benjamin Qi.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is the USACO?
USACO stands for the USA Computing Olympiad. Check out the USACO FAQ Page for more information.
- Is this an official syllabus?
No, USACO does not have an official syllabus. This guide merely lists topics that have historically appeared in USACO contests; it makes no guarantees about the topics in future USACO contests.
- How do I report a problem or ask a question?
If you encounter an issue while using the guide (website bug, typo, broken link, unclear explanation, etc), use the "Contact Us" button. Alternatively, email us at usacoguide@gmail.com.
- I'm looking for classes, club curriculum...
Check out the Competitive Programming Initiative!
- Is this guide for non-USACO competitive programmers?
Of course! While we structure our content around USACO, feel free to use this guide even if you don't do USACO. You will still learn a lot from it!
- How can I get help?
If you get stuck, head over to the USACO Forum for help.
- How can I contribute?
To learn more about contributing, please visit this page. We appreciate any and all contributions!
- Is this open source?
Yes! Check out our Github Repository.
Authors you can trust.
Nathan Wang is a three-time USACO Finalist and web development enthusiast.
Benjamin Qi is a two-time IOI winner, USACO Problemsetter, and part of the MIT Class of 2023.
Maggie Liu is a USACO competitor who enjoys problem solving and teaching others programming and math.
Michael Cao is a USACO Platinum competitor and USACO problemsetter.
Darren Yao is a USACO Platinum competitor and author of the textbook "An Introduction to USACO."
Siyong Huang is an IOI gold medalist and three-time USACO Finalist.
Bing-Dong Liu is a USACO Platinum competitor who creates video editorials for USACO Training problems.
Nathan Chen is a two-time USACO Finalist who competes in both Java and C++ fluently.
Andrew Wang is a USACO Platinum competitor and a researcher in the field of bioinformatics.
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