Additional good textbook quality: Prove to me in the first chapter the power of the topic your textbook is written on. I do not want the first 5 chapters to be a bunch of definitions, because then I have no clue whether the rest is worth reading. Either get me inspired to learn your subject, or tell me the myriad things I will be able to do that I otherwise couldn’t and what they’re good for.
This is understandably absent from most textbooks as most don’t read textbooks for fun or profit, but as a requirement imposed on them by their professor, and the professor neither needs to be inspired or reminded of the applications of their subject.
Additional good textbook quality: Prove to me in the first chapter the power of the topic your textbook is written on. I do not want the first 5 chapters to be a bunch of definitions, because then I have no clue whether the rest is worth reading. Either get me inspired to learn your subject, or tell me the myriad things I will be able to do that I otherwise couldn’t and what they’re good for.
This is understandably absent from most textbooks as most don’t read textbooks for fun or profit, but as a requirement imposed on them by their professor, and the professor neither needs to be inspired or reminded of the applications of their subject.
Good point! The first chapter of Programming Pearls viscerally fulfills that criterion for me.