  This paper describes the algorithms used by the CMS experiment to reconstruct
and identify tau to hadrons + tau neutrino decays during Run 1 of the LHC. The
performance of the algorithms is studied in proton-proton collisions recorded
at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity
of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The algorithms achieve an identification efficiency
of 50-60%, with misidentification rates for quark and gluon jets, electrons,
and muons between per mille and per cent levels.
