Lesson 177 · 2 min
Vibe coding explained
Vibe coding means building software by describing what you want and letting AI write the code, judging the result by trying it.
The phrase became popular in 2025 to describe a new way of making apps. Instead of writing code line by line, you tell an AI tool what you want, look at what it makes, and say what to change. Many people do this without reading the code at all.
It works surprisingly well for small things: a personal budget page, a quiz for your class, a booking form for a homestay, a tool that cleans a spreadsheet. Ideas that once needed a developer can be tried in an afternoon.
The limits show as the project grows. The AI may fix one thing and break another, and you may not notice. Security, privacy and handling real payments need someone who understands what the code does.
So use vibe coding for prototypes, personal tools and trying ideas. Before real users, real data or real money are involved, have a developer review it, or learn enough to check the important parts yourself.
Do it now
Vibe code a one-page tool
- 1. Open an assistant that can build artifacts or web pages.
- 2. Describe a tiny tool you would use this week, with the prompt below.
- 3. Ask for three rounds of changes, testing it after each one.
Build a single-page web tool: [DESCRIBE IT]. It must work on a phone, store nothing online, and have a clear title and instructions. After building it, list what it cannot do yet.
Quick check
Words from this lesson
- Vibe coding
- Building software by describing what you want to an AI and accepting its code, often without reading it closely.
- Generative AI
- AI that produces new text, images, audio, video or code, rather than only sorting or scoring existing things.
- LLM
- An AI trained on huge amounts of text to predict the next word, which lets it write, summarise, translate and chat.