Sci-fi writer’s trick: if you want to teach the reader how some machine works, describe it NOT working. Have some character trying to repair it, or getting frustrated because it’s not doing what it should.

Most computer books describe systems that work. Keep readers engaged by talking about things that DON’T work. Emphasise flaws or inconsistencies. Give them challenging problems. Get them to write buggy code, try it, and then fix it.

This will engage the intellect: it gives the reader’s brain a problem to work on, a puzzle to solve. It will engage the emotions – we get frustrated when things don’t work, and we feel a bit of elation when they’re fixed.

But if everything just works as expected all the time, we feel nothing. We get bored.