ishrat

Posted on Dec 18

I Stopped Writing Code. Here's What I Do Instead (Vibe Coding in 2025)

#webdev #ai #programming #productivity

I've been coding for over a decade. Last month, I built a complete SaaS MVP in 3 days.

Not because I suddenly became 10x faster at typing. Because I barely typed any code at all.

Welcome to vibe coding — and it's changing everything.

## What is Vibe Coding?

The term was coined by Andrej Karpathy (yes, the Tesla AI guy) in early 2025:

"It's not really coding — I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works."

Instead of writing code line-by-line, you:

Describe what you want in plain English
Let AI generate the code
Run it and see what happens
Paste errors back to AI to fix

That's it. That's the whole workflow.

## Why Should You Care?

According to JetBrains' 2025 developer survey:

85% of developers now use AI tools regularly
62% rely on at least one AI coding assistant
Developers save 1-8+ hours per week

This isn't a fad. This is the new normal.

## Free Tools to Start Vibe Coding Today (No Credit Card Needed)

You don't need to spend a dime to get started. Here are completely free options:

| Tool | What It Does | Why It's Great |
|------|--------------|----------------|
| Cursor | AI-powered IDE | Free tier with 2000 completions/month |
| Codeium | Code autocomplete | 100% free, unlimited, no catch |
| Continue.dev | Open source AI assistant | Free forever, works with VS Code |
| Aider | Terminal AI pair programmer | Free & open source |
| Claude.ai | Chat-based coding help | Free tier available |
| ChatGPT | General AI coding | Free tier available |
| GitHub Copilot | Inline suggestions | Free for students & open source maintainers |

My recommendation for beginners: Start with Codeium (unlimited free) + Claude.ai (for complex questions). Zero cost, full power.

## Paid Tools (When You're Ready)

Once you're comfortable, these are worth the investment:

| Tool | Cost | Best For |
|------|------|----------|
| Cursor Pro | $20/mo | Full IDE experience |
| GitHub Copilot | $10/mo | Inline completions |
| Claude Pro | $20/mo | Complex reasoning |

But seriously, the free tools are incredibly capable. I used only free tools for my first 6 months of vibe coding.

## Real Example: Building a URL Shortener in 10 Minutes

Here's exactly what I typed into Claude (free tier):

Create a FastAPI URL shortener with:

POST /shorten - accepts URL, returns short code
GET /{code} - redirects to original URL
SQLite storage
Rate limiting (10 req/min per IP)

What AI generated (working code):

  from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Request
  from fastapi.responses import RedirectResponse
  from slowapi import Limiter
  from slowapi.util import get_remote_address
  import sqlite3
  import string
  import random

  app = FastAPI()
  limiter = Limiter(key_func=get_remote_address)

  def init_db():
      conn = sqlite3.connect("urls.db")
      conn.execute("""
          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS urls (
              code TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
              url TEXT NOT NULL
          )
      """)
      return conn

  @app.post("/shorten")
  @limiter.limit("10/minute")
  async def shorten(request: Request, url: str):
      conn = init_db()
      code = ''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_letters, k=6))
      conn.execute("INSERT INTO urls VALUES (?, ?)", (code, url))
      conn.commit()
      return {"short_url": f"http://localhost:8000/{code}"}

  @app.get("/{code}")
  async def redirect(code: str):
      conn = init_db()
      result = conn.execute(
          "SELECT url FROM urls WHERE code = ?", (code,)
      ).fetchone()
      if not result:
          raise HTTPException(404, "Not found")
      return RedirectResponse(result[0])

Ran it. Worked first try. 10 minutes including testing. Cost: $0

The Prompting Secret Nobody Talks About

Bad prompt:
make a todo app

Good prompt:
Create a React TypeScript todo app with:

Add/delete/toggle todos
LocalStorage persistence
Filter: all, active, completed
Tailwind CSS styling
Responsive design

The difference? Specificity.

The more constraints you give, the better the output. Think of it like giving directions — "go somewhere nice" vs "go to the Italian restaurant on 5th street."

When Vibe Coding Fails

Let's be real. It's not magic. It struggles with:

Complex algorithms — AI often produces O(n²) when O(n) exists
Security-critical code — Always review auth/crypto manually
Large codebase refactors — Context window limits hurt
Highly custom business logic — It doesn't know YOUR domain

I still write code manually for ~30% of my work. But that 70% automation? Game changer.

How to Start Today (5-Minute Setup)

Option A: Browser Only (Easiest)

Go to https://claude.ai or https://chat.openai.com
Describe what you want to build
Copy the code, run locally

Option B: IDE Integration (Better)

Install https://code.visualstudio.com
Add https://codeium.com (free)
Start typing — AI suggests completions

Option C: Full Vibe Coding Setup (Best)

Install https://cursor.sh (free tier)
Open any project
Press Cmd+K / Ctrl+K
Type what you want in English
Hit enter and watch

Start with small tasks:

"Add a loading spinner to this button"
"Convert this function to async/await"
"Write tests for this module"

Build confidence, then go bigger.

The Future is Conversational

In 5 years, I believe:

Junior dev interviews will test prompting skills
"Vibe coder" will be a real job title
Writing code manually will feel like writing assembly

The developers who adapt now will have a massive advantage.

Want More Developer Tutorials?

I write in-depth guides on AI, Python, and modern development at https://techyowls.io — practical tutorials from engineers who actually ship products.

What's your experience with AI coding tools? Drop a comment — I reply to everyone.