What is Vibe Coding? A Takeout Analogy

Imagine you want to order a bowl of “spicy beef noodles” but you can’t cook and know nothing about culinary skills. You open your phone and tell your voice assistant:

“I want a bowl of hot, rich broth, tender beef, with some cilantro and chili oil, not too salty, and a soft-boiled egg.”

Miraculously, the system not only understands your “feeling description” but also automatically matches you with the highest-rated restaurant, completing the order, payment, and delivery seamlessly.

This is the core idea of Vibe Coding—using “intuition,” “intent,” and “atmosphere” instead of precise commands, allowing AI to help you complete programming tasks.

In traditional programming, you need to tell the computer:

def cook_noodle:
    add_water(500ml)
    boil_water
    add_noodles(200g)
    cook_for(3min)
    add_beef(100g)
    add_spices("chili oil", "cilantro")
    serve_with_egg("soft-boiled")

But in Vibe Coding, you only need to say:

“Write me a program that can cook my favorite beef noodles, spicy, chewy, with a soft-boiled egg, not too salty.”

AI will automatically generate the code, debug it, and even deploy it.

It doesn’t care whether you know how to write a for loop; it only cares if you have “thought clearly about what you want.”

Vibe Coding vs Traditional Programming: Who is More Efficient? Who Will Be Eliminated?

Advantages:

• Significantly lowers the programming threshold: Non-technical personnel can participate in product development.
• Accelerates innovation cycles: The time from “idea” to “working product” is shortened to hours.
• Liberates creativity: Programmers are no longer constrained by syntax and can focus on “what to do” rather than “how to do it.”

Disadvantages:

• Code quality is unstable: AI-generated code may be redundant, inefficient, or contain hidden bugs.
• Lacks deep control: Insufficient support for advanced needs like performance, security, and architecture optimization.
• Dependent on model capabilities: Different AI tools produce varying results, requiring repeated debugging.

However, with the development of AI, the rise of Vibe Coding is undoubtedly a disruptive force against traditional development models.

Exponential Rush: The “Doomsday Clock” for Programmers

Vibe Coding did not emerge out of nowhere; its predecessors include AI-assisted programming tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Codeium. What truly allowed it to “break through” was the explosion of several revolutionary products since 2024:

• Devin (launched by Cognition Labs): The first “AI software engineer” capable of independently completing entire projects.
• Cursor + GPT-4o: Supports natural language conversational programming, modifying code while chatting.
• Replit Ghostwriter: Responds in real-time to users’ “tone” and “intent,” automatically generating functions, classes, and even UI.
• Anthropic Claude 3 / Gemini 1.5: Context windows exceeding a million tokens, capable of understanding the entire project’s “atmosphere.”

In just a year, Vibe Coding has evolved from an “auxiliary tool” to a “dominant force.” Many startups are now using AI to complete 70% of front-end development, automated testing, and even database design.

This exponential pace of evolution inevitably raises a pessimistic prediction: If AI can directly understand business needs and generate code, what value does a programmer, whose job is to “translate” requirements into code, hold?

When a machine can accomplish the same task at ten times the speed and one-tenth the cost, the market’s choices will be brutal and direct.

The Twilight of Jobs, the Birth of Skills

This is not alarmism; the signs have long been evident.

The 100,000 layoffs in Silicon Valley over the past 25 years have already set the countdown for the “twilight of the gods,” and the disappearance of programmers seems to be a foregone conclusion.

However, does the disappearance of jobs equate to the extinction of skills? I believe the opposite is true!

“Code writers” may decrease, but “programming-savvy individuals” will never disappear.

Because the essence of programming has never been about “typing on a keyboard,” but rather about:

The ability to solve problems, the ability to think abstractly, the ability to design systems, and the ability to turn ideas into reality.

These are the true “hard currencies.”

Turning Point: Programmers Will Not Disappear, But Must Evolve!

The role of “programmer” may be restructured, but “programming skills” will only become more important—it will no longer be an independent profession but rather a foundational competency for all careers.

The future workplace will look like this:

• Product Manager + Programming → Able to create MVPs and quickly validate ideas;
• Operations Personnel + Programming → Able to write automation scripts, scrape data, conduct A/B testing, and optimize conversion rates;
• Designer + Programming → Able to use Figma + AI to generate interactive prototypes and even deploy them;
• Sales + Programming → Able to build their own CRM, automate customer follow-ups, and generate sales reports;

In other words:

In the future, there will be no “pure programmers,” only “composite talents who can code.”

Those who can only write code without understanding business, user needs, or communication skills will ultimately be eliminated by AI and versatile candidates.

Conversely, those who can combine programming with other skills will become the “super individuals” of the new era.

Change is Necessary: Add a “Second Skill” to Yourself

In the face of AI’s impact, programmers’ path forward is not “resistance” but rather “integration.”

You can choose:

• Programming + Product → Become a “technical product manager” who can both design prototypes and write back-end code;
• Programming + Operations → Become a “growth hacker” who drives user growth with code;
• Programming + Design → Become a “full-stack designer” who handles everything from visuals to interactions;
• Programming + Business → Become an “entrepreneur” who validates business models at minimal cost;
• Programming + Content → Become a “tech influencer” teaching others how to code with AI;

The real moat is whether you can leverage “programming” to unlock value in other fields.

Conclusion: Seize the Opportunity While There Are Still Barriers!

Vibe Coding is undergoing a transition from “tool” to “ecosystem.” It still has barriers—you need to understand some logic, describe requirements, and assess output quality. But this barrier is decreasing at an observable rate.

Three years from now, when you see a college student using AI to create and launch an app in half an hour, you will understand:

“The ability to independently develop and launch an application” will become a key indicator of whether a person possesses core competitiveness in the digital age.

So, don’t wait any longer.

Start learning Vibe Coding now, not to replace programmers, but to make yourself an “irreplaceable composite talent.”

Mastering it is not just about “writing code,” but about “creating value.”

When you can command AI with “feelings,” build products with “intent,” and solve complex problems with “composite skills”—

You will be the winner of the next era.