In open-source development, as in physics, speed and accuracy are locked in a dance of trade-offs. My journey adding dark mode to Deno’s ecosystem taught me that progress isn’t about perfection—it’s about momentum, iteration, and knowing when to move fast or slow.
Three weeks ago, I submitted a pull request to add dark mode to JSR, Deno’s shiny new package registry. It wasn’t my first rodeo—I’d already tackled dark mode for Deno Docs and Deno Fresh Docs. My Deno Docs PR wasn’t accepted outright but was copied, refined, and merged by the core team. I learned from it. My Fresh Docs PR? Accepted clean as a whistle (see it here). So, with JSR, I felt the wind at my back—momentum building.
Then, my JSR PR got rejected.
It hit like a sudden stop—a loss of momentum. Had I moved too fast? Sacrificed accuracy for speed? Or was this just the chaotic nature of open-source contribution?
In physics, speed (velocity) and position are tied, while momentum carries that motion forward. Accuracy, though, is trickier—it’s the precision of knowing where you are or how fast you’re going. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle captures this tension:
The more precisely you pin down position ( x ), the less you know about momentum ( p ), and vice versa. Speed up, and accuracy blurs; aim for precision, and you slow down.
Open-source development mirrors this. My JSR PR was a high-speed particle—rushing toward a goal but fuzzy on alignment with the project’s trajectory. Rejection was the measurement that snapped me into focus, costing me momentum but sharpening my position.
That first Deno Docs PR wasn’t a failure—it was a calibration (and then a collaboration). The team took my rough draft, polished it, and shipped it. I absorbed the feedback, adjusted my aim, and fired again with Fresh Docs. Success. Momentum restored. Each step was a dance between speed (submitting fast) and accuracy (learning the project’s needs).
JSR, though? I’d misjudged the system’s inertia. Deno and JSR prioritize security and stability—laudable goals born from Node.js and NPM’s scars. But caution can calcify into stagnation. Look at NPM’s dark mode debate—years of pleas, no action. Deno doesn’t want to be Node, but moving too slow risks missing what users need now. Dark mode isn’t just a perk; it’s an accessibility lifeline for those with light sensitivity or migraines. In 2025, it’s table stakes.
Rejection stung, but it didn’t stop me. Why? I live by a short list of credos:
Here’s why it works:
But I know when to brake. For pacemakers, car brakes, or JSR’s core security? Slow, meticulous accuracy trumps all. For dark mode? Speed wins—users need it, the risk is low, and iteration is fast.
Submitting those PRs took guts and humility. Deno Docs: fast, copied, improved. Fresh Docs: accurate, accepted. JSR: fast, rejected. Was I speeding toward success or just crashing through failures? If iteration hones accuracy, isn’t speed just the path to getting it right?
It’s a loop: speed breeds mistakes, mistakes demand reflection, reflection boosts accuracy, and accuracy fuels faster moves next time. Like a particle’s wavefunction collapsing under observation, each failure clarified my position—letting momentum build anew.
Had I frozen I wouldn’t have added my namespace (davis9001) to JSR, wouldn't have learned Deno Fresh plugin dev, wouldn't have collaborated with Sai (@texoport.in) on a slicker dark mode (WIP). I wouldn’t have nudged Deno Docs and Fresh Docs into the dark-mode era. Inaction, not rejection, is the real risk.
JSR could’ve accepted my PR and fixed it later—especially given GitHub Issue #18’s upvotes (1+8=9, a cosmic nudge). Browser plugins or “not enough users” excuses don’t cut it when accessibility’s on the line. I stepped on toes, ignored some rules, and I’d do it again. Speed delivered results.
Life’s a balancing act between speed and accuracy. Here’s a guide to choose wisely. Score each factor 0–2, then sum up:
For JSR’s dark mode? Stakes: 2 (low risk). Impact: 1 (moderate reach). Feedback: 2 (fast iteration). Urgency: 2 (2025 overdue). Demand: 2 (Issue #18’s upvotes). Total: 9. Speed was the play—and I stand by it.
Here’s a TypeScript snippet to compute it:
type DecisionFactor = 0 | 1 | 2;
type Decision = "Accuracy" | "Neutral" | "Speed";
function chooseSpeedOrAccuracy(
stakes: DecisionFactor,
impact: DecisionFactor,
feedback: DecisionFactor,
urgency: DecisionFactor,
demand: DecisionFactor,
): Decision {
const score = stakes + impact + feedback + urgency + demand;
if (score <= 4) return "Accuracy";
if (score <= 7) return "Neutral";
return "Speed";
}Progress isn’t
It’s
—momentum from mass (effort) and velocity (action). Accuracy refines your vector, but speed gets you moving. I’d rather crash and adjust than stand still and wonder.
Maybe JSR will revisit dark mode. Maybe I will have inspired someone else to crack deno_doc #377 faster than I would have (sooner than would have happened had I not "intervened"). For now, I’m content—knowing I’ve pushed the needle, one imperfect PR at a time.
In this strange loop of open source, speed isn’t the enemy of accuracy—it’s the spark that lights the way.
I'm posting this because I'm aware and I want to share that there is a time for being careful and a time for being bold. My tendency is to ignore the rules and break things, make changes quickly when I know that the alternative would be to wait and likely never get the work done in a reasonable time (if ever).
I'm not (to my knowledge) writing any code that is going to be crucial to the safety and security of others, if that were the case I'm sure my willingness to throw rules out the window would be much less than it is now.
My question is this: what is the right balance between speed and accuracy?