Dear Vibe Coder: Let’s Talk (For Real)
I’m going to say the quiet part out loud.
Your app works.
Your demo looks cool.
Your code is a nightmare waiting to happen.
And before you get mad and quote-tweet this, breathe.
This is not an anti-AI rant.
I use AI every single day. You probably should too.
If you’re a developer in 2026 and not using AI, you’re already behind.
The problem isn’t AI.
The problem is vibe coding culture and how it’s quietly rotting the foundations of real software engineering.
What People Mean by “Vibe Coding”
Let’s define it clearly, because this term gets abused.
Vibe coding is when:
- You don’t really understand the code
- You don’t care how it works
- You trust the output because it feels right
- And when it breaks, you regenerate it until it stops screaming
It’s coding by vibes, prompts, and blind optimism.
It looks incredible on social media:
“Built a SaaS in 48 hours with GPT 🚀🔥”
What you don’t see:
- No tests
- No error handling
- No mental model
- No chance of maintaining it six months later
That’s not engineering.
That’s content creation with a compiler attached.
AI Didn’t Create Bad Developers, It Just Exposed Them Faster
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Bad developers existed long before AI.
What AI did was remove the friction that used to expose them.
Before:
- If you didn’t understand async, you were stuck
- If you didn’t understand state, your app broke
- If you didn’t understand databases, production punished you immediately
Now?
You paste an error into an LLM, skim the explanation you didn’t really read, and ship.
The app works.
The understanding never arrived.
The Failure Is Delayed, And That’s the Dangerous Part
Vibe-coded apps don’t fail on day one.
They fail:
- When traffic grows
- When requirements change
- When the AI suggestion is almost right
- When someone else has to read the code
- When you have to read your own code three months later
I’ve watched teams burn weeks untangling AI-generated spaghetti because nobody understood the logic, including the person who shipped it.
And guess who gets blamed?
Not the vibes.
Not the tool.
The developer.
“But It Works” Is Not a Technical Argument
Yes, it works.
So does duct tape.
So does a shell script written at 3 a.m.
So does pushing to main on Friday afternoon.
Working is the minimum requirement, not the goal.
Engineering is about:
- Predictability
- Maintainability
- Tradeoffs
- Understanding failure modes
If your entire strategy is “the AI will fix it,” you’re not building software.
You’re gambling, with extra steps.
Using AI Is Mandatory. Thinking Is Non‑Negotiable.
Let’s be very clear.
If you’re a developer in 2026 and you’re not using AI, you’re doing it wrong.
But if you’re using AI instead of thinking, you’re also doing it wrong.
AI should:
- Speed you up
- Reduce boilerplate
- Help you explore solutions
- Catch obvious mistakes
AI should not:
- Replace your mental model
- Decide architecture for you
- Debug systems you don’t understand
- Be the only reason your app works
The best developers right now aren’t vibe coders.
They’re AI‑augmented engineers.
That difference matters more than ever.
Why Juniors Are Getting Destroyed by This
This is the part nobody wants to talk about.
New developers see vibe coding and think:
“Oh, this is how professionals work now.”
So they skip fundamentals.
They skip debugging.
They skip learning how systems actually behave.
Then they hit the job market.
And companies aren’t hiring vibe coders.
They’re hiring people who can:
- Read ugly legacy code
- Debug production issues
- Explain why something broke
- Fix problems without regenerating the universe
That’s why juniors feel stuck.
That’s why “entry-level” roles ask for 3–5 years of experience.
That’s why vibe coding hurts the people who need guidance the most.
If This Offends You, Ask Yourself Why
If this article makes you angry, sit with that feeling for a second.
Because deep down, most vibe coders already know the truth:
They’re shipping faster, but understanding less.
They’re productive today, fragile tomorrow.
They look senior on Twitter, and junior in real codebases.
You don’t need to quit AI.
You don’t need to write assembly by candlelight either.
You just need to care.
Care about how things work.
Care about reading code.
Care about fundamentals.
Care about the people who will inherit your mess.
One Final Intrusive Thought
AI didn’t ruin programming.
Vibe coding didn’t either.
But pretending vibes are a substitute for understanding?
That absolutely will.
Use AI.
Ship fast.
Build cool things.
Just don’t confuse speed with skill.
And please, for the sake of every future teammate, learn the basics.
Your app depends on it.
Your career depends on it.
And so does the industry you’re trying to join.
So… be honest.
Are you vibe coding?
Or are you actually engineering?
Let’s argue in the comments.
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