Introduction to Vibe Coding
The concept of "vibe coding" has been making waves in the software development community. It’s a new approach to coding that involves fully embracing the capabilities of AI assistants and letting them take control of the coding process. Ilja Karpathy, a well-known figure in the tech world, recently described his experience with vibe coding, saying, "There’s a new kind of coding I call ‘vibe coding’, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists." He explained that when he’s vibe coding, he doesn’t really feel like he’s coding at all – he just sees things, says things, runs things, and copies and pastes things, and it mostly works.
What is Vibe Coding?
To understand vibe coding, it’s essential to note that the technology behind it isn’t new. General-purpose chatbots like Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Google DeepMind’s Gemini have been getting better at writing code to build software, including games, websites, and apps. However, the recent advent of specially created AI coding assistants, such as Cursor’s Chat and GitHub Copilot, has truly ushered in the era of vibe coding. These assistants can make real-time predictions about what you’re trying to do and offer intuitive suggestions to make it easier than ever to create software, even if you’ve never written code before.
How Vibe Coding Works
Vibe coding relies on the ability of AI assistants to understand the developer’s intentions and generate code accordingly. Barron Webster, a software designer at Sandbar, explains that over the past few years, AI autocomplete tools have become increasingly sophisticated. "They started off completing single lines of code and can now rewrite an entire file for you, or create new components," he says. "The remit of what you can take your hands off the wheel and let the machine do is continually growing over time."
What Doesn’t Count as Vibe Coding?
Not all AI-assisted coding is vibe coding. To truly vibe-code, you have to be prepared to let the AI fully take control and refrain from checking and directly tweaking the code it generates as you go along – surrendering to the vibes. Karpathy explains that when he’s vibe coding, he accepts all suggestions from the AI tool and trusts its ability to fix its own mistakes. "When I get error messages, I just copy paste them in with no comment, usually that fixes it," he writes. "Sometimes the LLMs can’t fix a bug, so I just work around it or ask for random changes until it goes away."
Conclusion
Vibe coding is a new and exciting approach to software development that has the potential to revolutionize the way we create software. By embracing the capabilities of AI assistants and letting them take control of the coding process, developers can create software more quickly and efficiently than ever before. While it may take some time to get used to, vibe coding is definitely worth exploring, especially for those who are new to coding or looking to improve their productivity.
FAQs
- Q: What is vibe coding?
A: Vibe coding is a new approach to coding that involves fully embracing the capabilities of AI assistants and letting them take control of the coding process. - Q: How does vibe coding work?
A: Vibe coding relies on the ability of AI assistants to understand the developer’s intentions and generate code accordingly. - Q: Is all AI-assisted coding vibe coding?
A: No, not all AI-assisted coding is vibe coding. To truly vibe-code, you have to be prepared to let the AI fully take control and refrain from checking and directly tweaking the code it generates as you go along. - Q: Who can benefit from vibe coding?
A: Anyone can benefit from vibe coding, especially those who are new to coding or looking to improve their productivity. - Q: What’s the future of vibe coding?
A: The future of vibe coding is exciting and full of possibilities. As AI assistants continue to improve, we can expect to see even more innovative applications of vibe coding in the software development industry.
