Holt's Linear Algebra with Applications blends computational and conceptual topics throughout. Early treatment of conceptual topics in the context of Euclidean space gives students more time, and a familiar setting, in which to absorb them. This organization also makes it possible to treat eigenvalues and eigenvectors earlier than in most texts. Abstract vector spaces are introduced later, once students have developed a solid conceptual foundation.

Concepts and topics are frequently accompanied by applications to provide context and motivation. Because many students learn by example, Linear Algebra with Applications provides a large number of representative examples, over and above those used to introduce topics. The text also has over 2500 exercises, covering computational and conceptual topics over a range of difficulty levels.