[jfaucett]

I think its important, especially in posts like this that are targeted to beginners, that certain information be left out and not clarified (essentially making the masked parts "magic"). Otherwise, the reader is overwhelmed with information and really can't grasp the overall picture. I think this article succeeds on its goal of shedding some light on how the node event loop works at a high level, and its straightforward about its goals in that regard.

Imagine trying to explain to someone how math operations work in js, you wouldn't really want to explain how numbers are represented in the computer until you get to something that necessitates that understanding - like bit operations.

So, I'd just say it depends on your goals, if your goal is to explain precisely how every detail of something works, then yes I'd agree with you, there's no excuse for magic. But if you want to explain how a general concept works I'm fine with loads of "magic" holes you can fill in for yourself later.