>it seems to work better to build an understanding up rather than down.
I think especially because it's so different you should start with broad concepts and examples, so that the learner can create a broad mental model where they can fill in the details. Otherwise if you hit them with a barrage of details they won't remember any of them later on, because they don't fit anywhere into a broader concept and are disorganized.
Give a few examples that do something useful, show what they're doing differently than other package managers, then break down these examples into the details.
I think especially because it's so different you should start with broad concepts and examples, so that the learner can create a broad mental model where they can fill in the details. Otherwise if you hit them with a barrage of details they won't remember any of them later on, because they don't fit anywhere into a broader concept and are disorganized.
Give a few examples that do something useful, show what they're doing differently than other package managers, then break down these examples into the details.