"Vibe coding" has been showing up everywhere over the last year or so. It's worth knowing what people mean by it.
The Traditional Way
Building software used to require:
- Learning programming languages (Python, JavaScript, and so on)
- Understanding frameworks and libraries
- Years of practice to get good
- Debugging cryptic error messages
That kept development a specialized skill, mostly limited to people with formal training or a lot of stubborn self-study.
Enter AI-Assisted Development
With tools like Claude, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot and Cursor, a different approach works. Vibe coding is when you:
- Describe what you want in plain English
- Let the AI generate code from your description
- Go back and forth until it does what you meant
- Pick up the concepts along the way by reading what it produced
Why "Vibe" Coding?
The name comes from describing the vibe of what you want rather than writing a precise technical spec. You might say:
"I want a website that feels clean and modern, like Apple's site, with a contact form that sends me an email"
And you get working code back.
Is It Right for You?
It works well for entrepreneurs with an app idea and no coding background, small business owners who need a custom tool, hobbyists building their own projects, and developers who want to move faster.
It works less well when you don't know enough to tell whether the answer is right. That's the part worth learning.
Getting Started
If you're in the Richmond area and want to learn vibe coding, I offer coaching sessions where we build your project together. You get the tools and techniques while making something real.
The barrier to building software has never been lower. Give it a try.