TACO

The Andover Computing Open

The Andover Computing Open (TACO) will be held on August 30, 2025

TACO is a beginner-friendly coding contest organized by the Phillips Academy team

Join Discord to join our community of coders

Solve Fun Programming Puzzles!

TACO is an individual coding contest that is open and friendly to programmers at all levels in middle and high schools. We welcome programmers from all over the world!

Join us for a day puzzle solving to learn cool algorithms and sharpen your critical thinking skills! Find a community of young coders and meet new friends! And come listen to distinguished speakers such as Prof. Brian Dean, director of the USA Computing Olympiad.

What do we do?

The Andover Computing Open consists of 2 short rounds, each 1.5 hours in length. There are 2 divisions for participants to choose from: Beginners and Advanced. Between the two rounds of contests, there will be speaker events and workshops on topics like App building, Artificial Intelligence, and of course Competitive Programming.

🎉 Prizes for TACO 2025 🎉

Beginner Division

  
    1st Place
    $250 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    2nd Place
    $150 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    3rd Place
    $100 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    4th Place
    $50 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    5th Place
    $50 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    ALL top 5
    1 year of Wolfram|One Professional Edition

  
    1st Place
    $450 + Jane Street Swag Pack + Mathworks Swag
  
    2nd Place
    $250 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    3rd Place
    $150 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    4th Place
    $100 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    5th Place
    $75 + Jane Street Swag + Mathworks Swag
  
    6th Place
    $50 + $25 AoPS Gift Card
  
    7th Place
    $25 AoPS Gift Card
  
    ALL top 10
    1 year of Wolfram|One Professional Edition

Additional Prizes:

The top female-identifying contestant in the Beginner division will receive an additional $50 and 1 year of Wolfram|One Professional (if not already eligible).
The top female-identifying contestant in the Advanced division will win an additional $100 and 1 year of Wolfram|One Professional (if not already eligible).
3x Wolfram|One Professional Edition Subscriptions and 2x $25 AoPS coupons will be given out through a raffle at the end of each of our events.
The top 3 non-precollege participants in the Advanced Division will win $150, $100, and $75, respectively.

Contest Schedule 2025

Saturday August 30th

  
    Event
    Time (EST)
  
    Opening Ceremony
    11:55 AM -- 12:00 PM
  
    Contest Round 1
    12:00 PM -- 1:45 PM
  
    Lunch Break / Brain Break
    1:45 PM -- 2:15 PM
  
    Contest Round 2
    2:15 PM -- 4:00 PM
  
    Workshop
     4:15 - 5:15 PM 
  
    Closing Ceremony + Winner Announcements!
     ~ 5:30 PM

Event	Time (EST)
Opening Ceremony	11:55 AM -- 12:00 PM
Contest Round 1	12:00 PM -- 1:45 PM
Lunch Break / Brain Break	1:45 PM -- 2:15 PM
Contest Round 2	2:15 PM -- 4:00 PM
Workshop	4:15 - 5:15 PM
Closing Ceremony + Winner Announcements!	~ 5:30 PM

Advanced Division(Precollege Only)

Guide for contestants new to competitive programming:

Competitive programming tests our ability to write efficient codes. All problems must be solved by a program that terminates within a strict time limit. For most problems, the time limit is 1 second, which is sufficient time for a C++ program to execute about 10^8 computations. Java is twice as slow. And Python is much slower.
To solve a problem, your program should inputs from the inputstream and print out the required answers. You may google how to do input and output. And we have also curated a short guide for you.
Problem difficulties in a contest are ranked approximately from easy to hard. But the difficulty of a problem is subjective. So, if you feel stuck on a problem, just checkout a different one!

Enjoy, and best of luck!