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I'm looking at textbooks for fall courses. There are plenty out there, including a lot free online. Some are too heavy for the intended audience, some are too light, some don't organize or present things in the way I'd like, and plenty are just mediocre.
What makes a book stand out as something I'd ask students to buy? Lots of useful diagrams and lots of exercises.
@peterdrake lots of exercises… but they need to be high-quality exercises. Well debugged.
@peterdrake I’d ask to what extent they’re accessible*.
*Not easy or straightforward to answer, but at least consider the file format, presence of semantic headings, and presence of text alternatives to images/diagrams.
@peterdrake Over the years, I’ve come to realize that the best way is to collect relevant material, create your own if you have to, and it may morph into an actual textbook in the end that actually fits your need.