My Sojourn Into "Vibe Coding" Reality

TM

Recently, I came across a task that required some actual software development. Over the years, I’ve taken a few Python and Git courses for “fun,” but the days of actually programming have been relegated to the ancient past. My programming skills are basically gone. I no longer “just get it.” And this particular task required real development and would require days if not weeks of effort trying to stumble my way through syntax error after syntax error. 

Instead of embarking on a long, painful project that I might not even finish, I decided to try experiment with something called “vibe coding.” Vibe coding refers to the practice of instructing AI agents to write code using natural language prompts. In some sense, it's like a higher-level programming language. (Editor’s note: yes, that’s a very controversial statement, said no one.)

I fired up Cursor, one of the many exploding vibe coding platforms. It’s based on Visual Studio Code, which I’m somewhat familiar with. And OMG—it actually works. Like, really works. I would explain what I needed to a coding agent, and it would either ask clarifying questions or go gangbusters and spit out lines and lines of (mostly) functional code.

I’m in awe of agentic AI’s capabilities in this space. It reminded me of the first time I used ChatGPT. Mind = Blown.

Now, to be clear, none of the tasks I was working on were particularly difficult. A real developer could have built those apps with one eye open and a busted laptop.

But that’s not the point. I understand how to approach application development, but I just can’t write code in any reasonable way anymore. Vibe coding fills in those gaps. It complements my deficiencies. At one point, I even skipped out on precious gaming time just to enjoy the experience of building something again. I haven’t felt that way in years.

Of course, not everything is perfect in Camelot. Cursor absolutely could not handle basic file structure manipulation. It also has a sort of AI-flavored ADHD and completely loses track of what it was doing. Sometimes it decides to go off on a wild tangent, rewriting perfectly functional code and usually not for the better.

And my personal favorite: it confidently announces that a task is complete… when it has done absolutely nothing. I’m sitting there watching it, like: “No you didn’t. I saw you. You did nothing.” Is it hallucinating? Being stubborn? Who knows.

Still, despite its flaws, AI-enabled vibe coding is an incredibly powerful programming tool. I’m in awe. This is truly Making Applications Fun Again. (MAFA - Trade Marked) 

And it begs the question:

What does the future of programming look like?

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