What is Vibe Coding and why are IT professionals talking about it all the time? The new tech trend explained

India Today

a day ago

For a long time, writing code meant sitting for hours in front of a computer, typing out lines and lines of instructions in a programming language. It needed technical skills, a lot of patience, and even more practice. But recently, a new way of writing code has become popular — and people are calling it vibe coding. It sounds like a trend on social media, but it's actually about using AI to build software just by describing what you want in plain, simple language. No need for complex code, no stress — just a simple conversation with your computer that turns into an app, game, or website. Let's break it down properly.advertisementWhat exactly is vibe coding?If we have to define vibe coding, you can think of it as a way of creating software without writing all the code yourself. Instead, you just talk to an AI tool — by typing or even speaking — and explain what you want to build. The AI does the heavy lifting and writes the code for you.You don't have to worry about the way code has to be written, or remembering commands, or finding bugs. You just describe your idea clearly, and the AI takes care of the rest. That's why it's called vibe coding — because you're going with the flow and trusting the AI to figure out the details.Where did this idea come from?
The term vibe coding was made popular by Andrej Karpathy, who has worked with companies like Tesla and OpenAI. He described it as letting go of the old-school way of thinking about code and just focusing on your idea. You don't have to be a pro coder any more. You just need to have a clear picture of what you want, and AI tools will help you turn it into reality.advertisementAndrej himself said he doesn't even check the code line by line any more — he just describes what he wants, accepts whatever the AI suggests, and moves on. It might sound lazy, but for quick projects or experiments, it works surprisingly well.How does vibe coding actually work?Here's a simple step-by-step example of how someone might vibe code:Pick from the many tools available, like Replit, Cursor, or ChatGPT that can generate code.Next, you need to type your idea. You might say something like, 'I want to create a calculator app with buttons for plus, minus, multiply, and divide.'After this, the AI will write the code for you. The tool will create the base version of your app.Finally, you need to test and tweak accordingly. If something doesn't work or looks odd, you just tell the AI what to fix.In the end, you have a working app that you created without doing any actual traditional coding.Vibe coding is being used by both developers and non-developers. People who never wrote a line of code in their life are now able to build apps and websites.Is vibe coding the same as AI-assisted coding?Not quite. AI-assisted coding still involves a developer writing most of the code, with the AI giving suggestions or helping fix mistakes. Vibe coding, on the other hand, is when the AI takes the lead, and the person mostly just gives directions.Should we be worried about vibe coding?advertisementSome people in the tech industry are worried that vibe coding might make programmers lazy, or that it could lead to poorly written code, especially if people don't review what the AI creates. There's also concern that beginners might never learn the basics of real coding.But others believe it's just a new chapter in how we build software. It doesn't replace serious programming, especially for complex systems — but it does make building simple apps faster and more fun.