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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.
Contributors
By the Community, for the Community.
Interested in joining the USACO Guide team? We are recruiting Content Authors to help us improve the USACO Guide! Apply here. If you're in the United States, you can earn volunteer hours too!
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