How I vibe code

There's a new kind of coding I call "vibe coding", where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists. It's possible because the LLM (Large Language Model)s (e.g. Cursor Composer w Sonnet) are getting too good. Also I just talk to Composer with SuperWhisper so I barely even touch the keyboard. I ask for the dumbest things like "decrease the padding on the sidebar by half" because I'm too lazy to find it. I "Accept All" always, I don't read the diffs anymore. When I get error messages I just copy paste them in with no comment, usually that fixes it. The code grows beyond my usual comprehension, I'd have to really read through it for a while. Sometimes the LLMs can't fix a bug so I just work around it or ask for random changes until it goes away. It's not too bad for throwaway weekend projects, but still quite amusing. I'm building a project or webapp, but it's not really coding - I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works.

Via Flutterby [1], “Andrej Karpathy on X [2]”

Good Lord! If you thought software today was bloated and slow, this sounds like it would produce software that is gigantically glacial in comparison (and by “embrace exponentials” I think he means “accept code with O(n^2) [3], O(2^n) or even O(n!) behavior”).

That's not how I would “vibe code.” No, to me, “vibe coding” is:

• 1. Don't necessarily worry about the behavior of the code—make it work but at least try to avoid O(2^n) or worse algorithms, then make it right, then fast.
• 2. Don't use version control! If you make a mistake and need to revert, revert by hand, or carry on through the bad code. And avoid using directores like “src.1/”, “src.2/“ or “src-no-really-this-works/”—that's still a form of version control (albeit a poor man's version control). Power through your mistakes.
• 3. Don't bother with “unit tests,” “integration tests,” TDD (Test-Driven Design) or even BDD (Bug-Driven Design). I'm not saying don't test, just don't write tests. Want to refactor? Go ahead—bull through the changes, or don't. It's your code. Yes, this does mean mostly manual testing, and having a file of test data is fine—just don't write test code.
• 4. Format the code however you want! Form your own opinions on formatting. Have some soul in your code for once.
• 5. This isn't a team sport, so no pair programming! This is vibe coding, not vibe partying.
• 6. Remember the words of Bob Ross: “we don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
• 7. Go with the flow. Just Do It™!

Now that I think about it, this is pretty much how programmers wrote code on home computers in the late 70s/early 80s. Funny that. But just blindly accepting LLM-written code? Good luck in getting anything to run correctly.

Sheesh.

[1] https://www.flutterby.com/archives/comments/33473.html

[2] https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_O_notation

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