In my opinion, the usual plumbing analogy for how conductors work does more harm than good. Electrons do not flow. They are stripped from one atom and stuffed onto its nearest neighbor, quite slowly. Since atoms are very, very close together in conductors, this means the net /charge/ flows through the wire, somewhere close to the speed of light.
Even charges are not like water in a pipe. Charges are relative. Water isn't, really. You're either wet or you ain't.
It seems to me that electronics are much, much less confusing when you learn a little of the physics involved, so you can see what the electrons /are/ doing, and what you're really measuring. Doubly so when you can think about the physics to understand more about electronics and not be led up the garden path by a bad analogy.
There are places where electrons do flow like water: inside vacuum tubes. Ironically, this is where the water analogy breaks down the worst, because the electron flow is /backwards/ to the direction the tube conducts current. It took me a long time to get my head around them.
-JRS
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