TopCoder, Inc., the leader in online programming competition, skills assessment and competitive software development, today announced that registration for the 2005 TopCoder Open will begin Monday, June 13th for the Component competition and Monday, August 1st for the Algorithm tournament.

The Premier event for competitive coding's elite, the 2005 TopCoder Open will bring the world's finest professional and collegiate programmers together for international ranking, celebrity and a share of the $150,000 prize purse for Algorithm, Component Design and Development categories. The Onsite Finals will involve 64 finalists and take place October 12th through 14th at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, CA. Full registration details and rules are provided at: http://www.topcoder.com/tco05 .

"This year TopCoder is increasing the number of competitors we'll be flying in to the onsite finals," said Rob Hughes, President and COO of TopCoder. "This reflects a growing market demand from our software clients for quality reusable components and the designers who can develop them."

Component Design and Development registration begins 9:00 am EDT June 13th and closes 9:00 am EDT June 29th, with online rounds running weekly through August 18th and a final online round starting on August 24th. The top 8 competitors from each of these categories will advance to the Onsite Finals in Santa Clara, CA on October 12th.

Online registration for the Algorithm competition will run 9:00 am EDT August 1st - 9:00 am EDT August 16th, with qualification rounds beginning August 16th and continuing on a weekly basis through September 7th. The top 48 competitors will advance to the Onsite Finals. Contestants can compete in the Algorithm or Component competitions, or both. Cash prizes for the 2005 TopCoder Open will comprise $75,000 for the Algorithm contest and $75,000 for the Component tournament ($46,500 Design, $28,500 Development) combining for an overall prize purse worth $150,000.

About TopCoder, Inc.

TopCoder is the recognized leader in identifying, evaluating and mobilizing effective software development resources. Through its proprietary programming competitions and rating system, TopCoder recognizes and promotes the abilities of the best programmers around the world. TopCoder Software harnesses the talent of these developers to design, develop and deploy software through its revolutionary competitive development methodology. TopCoder's methodology emphasizes thorough specification and design, distributed development using reusable components, and a rigorous quality assurance review process and results in higher quality, lower cost software solutions than traditional software development methodologies. For more information about sponsoring TopCoder Events, recruiting TopCoder members and utilizing TopCoder Software, visit www.topcoder.com .