Whether the outcome of this competition is another sign that math and science education in the U.S. needs improvement may spur debate. But of the 70 finalist in it, 20 were from China, 10 from Russia and only two from the U.S.

TopCoder Inc., which runs software competitions as part of its software development service, operates , an annual contest.

About 4,200 people participated in the U.S. National Security Agency-supported challenge. The NSA has been sponsoring the program for a number of years because of its interest in hiring people with advanced skills.

Participants in the contest, which was open to anyone -- from student to professional -- and finished with 120 competitors from around the world, went through a process of elimination that finished this month in Las Vegas.

China's showing in the finals was also helped by the sheer volume of its numbers, 894. India followed at 705, but none of its programmers were finalists. Russia had 380 participants; the United States, 234; Poland, 214; Egypt, 145; and Ukraine, 128, among others.