What is vibe coding?

To be honest, when I first heard the term "vibe coding", I thought it was some new programming language. Vibe coding is more like a "feeling-oriented" approach to development - you don't need to know the obscure code syntax, as long as you can use natural language to describe the effect and atmosphere you want, AI can help you turn that feeling into a real website. As long as you can describe the effect and atmosphere you want in natural language, the AI can help you turn that feeling into a real website or application. For example, if you say, "I want a blog that's warm and relaxing like a coffee shop," AI will automatically generate an interface with wood tones, comfortable spacing, and elegant fonts. This kind of development revolutionizes the way we think about programming, doesn't it?

vibe coding vs. traditional development methods

Traditional programming is like building a house with drawings, where the position of each screw has to be precisely specified; whereas vibe coding is more like having a coffee and chatting with an architect: "I want a bright and airy house with floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, and the kitchen should be connected to the garden..." According to Bolt. According to Bolt.new's usage data, developers who adopt the vibe coding approach complete a basic website in an average of 75% less time, which is still quite impressive. But there are some who question - can relying exclusively on sensory descriptions really produce high-quality code? From the cases I've tried, the results are really surprising, at least at the UI level.

Why is vibe coding suddenly on fire?

In 2023, with the explosion of multimodal macromodeling, AI will suddenly be able to understand abstract concepts like "atmosphere". Try telling an early AI "make me a fancy-looking website" and it might not get it at all, but now it can accurately capture the visual elements behind the "fancy look" - be it a lot of white space, a refined look, or a sophisticated look - and it will be able to understand what's going on. A recent survey by Stack Overflow shows that 38% of non-technical entrepreneurs have started to try out vibe coding tools, and the number is growing fast.

But then again, vibe coding isn't everything. Back-end development involving complex business logic still requires specialized programming knowledge. But there's no denying that it does open a new door for those who are creative but not technically savvy. You can even now see some designers completely skip the UI design tools, directly with natural language description can produce interactive prototypes, which in two years ago is simply a fantasy!