It has come for me to write something on a topic every developer has heard at some point. With AI being present into our daily lives and AI assisting developers, I feel this would become more of an issue. It's a problem that will naturally occur in the world of programming. Writing code just to write code. What does that mean? In my opinion, it means coding without any thought. Writing code without a clear purpose or plan can lead to various issues, especially for software developers working in a collaborative or long-term project setting. Even with vibe coded application these issues can compounded if not addressed.
Code Quality and Maintainability
Random code is often unstructured and lacks comments or coherent design, making it hard to read, maintain, or extend in the future. Clean, organized code is essential for a project to evolve without accumulating "technical debt" that could slow development and increase costs. Now I know that the concept of "clean code" itself is a polarizing discussion among software engineers and it has been that way for a long time. The clean code debate continues to exist in the programming world.
Projects in the corporate world go by fast, there is no time to refactor or "improve" the codebase, unlike personal projects which are created with no time restrictions. Even if the code makes me cringe I can't do anything to it unless I get approval from a tech lead or another dev on the team. So "bad code" continues to exist because "it works" mentality. This is very subjective and why code quality is the most debatable topic.
Increased Bug Risk
Writing code without a plan usually means skipping the design and testing phases, which increases the likelihood of introducing bugs. This can result in more time spent debugging and fixing issues down the line. I don't hate testing and see it as a necessary evil. Reasons others dislike testing due to its repetitive nature and or denial resulting in "Hey I did it myself, how can there be any errors? The tests are wrong." attitude. Worst case, the testing phases are skipped due to a lack of care or running out of project time. Mistakes can slip through the cracks and can be fixed. I don't want it worse by keeping moving without assessing the issue. Having a clear design before starting addresses obvious issues.
Wasted Resources
Coding without direction can lead to wasted time and effort if the code turns out to be unnecessary or incompatible with the rest of the project. In a team setting, this also wastes resources, as other developers may need to review or rework the code. Time is the biggest hurdle for a project. A project with tight deadlines is something you don't want to waste time on. Wasted tokens can also add up due to awful prompts.
Poor Scalability
Random code often doesn’t consider scalability, which can be problematic as projects grow. Good design anticipates future needs and changes, whereas unplanned code usually requires significant refactoring to meet new requirements. The worst case is that starting from scratch over again. Scalability is another hurdle when migrating an existing project or updating it.
Any stories of when vibe coding went wrong? Share in the comments!
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