The Growth Insight 🌱

The Vibe Coding Revolution: When Programming Becomes Pure Vibes

March 2025 will be remembered as the month the programming world went mad. A mind virus called "vibe coding" has infected the tech community, transforming how software is built forever.

Vibe coding, coined by Andrey at ExOpi, is simple yet revolutionary: fully surrender to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget the code even exists.

The approach has taken the industry by storm after indie hacker Peter Levelvels vibe-coded a real-time flight simulator MMO in JavaScript, then leveraged his Twitter following to sell in-game ads for a small fortune. Now everyone's doing it—flooding the internet with AI-generated software of questionable quality.

According to Anthropic's CEO, within 12 months, AI will write virtually all code. But this shift reveals a crucial distinction: coding and programming are not the same thing. Coding—translating logic into computer instructions—is becoming obsolete.

An 8-year-old can now write code faster than a 20-year veteran. But programming remains an art requiring creativity, ingenuity, and hard-earned instincts.

Without understanding what you're vibe coding, disaster awaits. Consider the indie hacker who successfully launched a SaaS product with paying customers, only to have internet trolls tear it apart.

Random events plagued his system—maxed-out API keys, subscription bypasses, database corruption. He ultimately had to shut everything down and beg for his old job back at Popeyes.

Yet when done properly, vibe coding works. We're approaching a world where billion-dollar businesses will run entirely on vibes.

If you're diving into this new paradigm, follow these rules:

1. Choose a popular, simple tech stack. LLMs excel at solving problems others have already solved on GitHub and Stack Overflow.

2. Master Git. When AI controls your code, it can delete your working code in seconds. Version control becomes your lifeline.

3. Become a product manager for your AI. Break complex requirements into specific, contextual steps.

Don't let your LLM get creative—make it deterministic. Vibe coding has transformed developers. Those who once built failed side projects now wield unprecedented power. But relying solely on vibes remains dangerous.

The revolution is here. The question is whether you'll ride the wave or be swept away by it.