deep-explainer

structure

The explainer archetype teaches a concept by starting with a concrete problem, building intuition through examples, then generalizing to the abstraction. It answers: what is this? How does it work? When would I use it?

• Concrete case study — real-world scenario that motivates the concept
• Where naive approaches fall short — why you can't solve it with obvious methods
• The core idea — the conceptual breakthrough
• What it actually looks like — worked example (code, diagram, or implementation detail)
• When you'd reach for it — application scope and boundaries

Works for: explaining algorithms, data structures, design patterns, academic concepts made practical.

required widgets

• Conceptual diagram — illustrating the core idea's structure
• Code block or worked example — showing implementation or pseudo-code
• Visual boundary marker — scope diagram or checklist showing when to use vs when to avoid

visual silhouette

archetype-check rules

• Exactly 5 H2s in order: "start with a concrete case", "where today's tools fall short", "the core idea", "what it actually looks like", "when you'd reach for it"
• `<p class="vg-deep-opener">` exists
• `<span class="vg-dropcap">` exists with exactly 1 character
• ≥1 `<pre><code>` block inside "what it actually looks like" section
• ≥2 inline `<svg>` elements (concept diagram + scope boundary)
• `<p class="vg-deep-closer">` with `<strong>Take-away</strong>`
• Universal contract: opener, dropcap, closer with strong tag

when to use

Explainer is the "teaching" archetype. Use it when your goal is to increase understanding of a concept, not just report news about it. The reader should be able to implement or apply the concept after reading, not just know it exists.