Vibe Coding: A Developer's Love-Hate Relationship with AI-Powered Development

May 30, 2025 | By Mohit

The Reality Behind the Buzzword

I must admit, I fell in love with vibe coding. Sometimes I hate to say it, but there are moments when I genuinely despise it too. It's frustrating when AI doesn't listen to your commands and breaks your carefully crafted code – that small piece of logic where you poured your heart to bring it to life. It's truly a love-hate relationship.

The "vibe coding" buzzword reminds me of YouTubers aspiring to their own Hollywood lifestyle. They have this illusionary belief that they can enjoy the same fame, creativity, and lifestyle as established artists in Hollywood or Bollywood. However, most lack the intricate knowledge that real artists possess – the minute details of photography, cinematography, screenwriting, and all the technical aspects of filmmaking.

Don't get me wrong – I'm not here to downplay YouTubers. There are exceptional content creators who excel in filmmaking and could surprise even Hollywood professionals. I simply want to separate the noise from the music, as more than 90% are living in illusion, taking advantage of social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram without understanding the craft beneath.

Understanding the Psychology Behind Trends

To understand any phenomenon, we must examine both the trend and the psychology driving it. Vibe coding has the same relationship with developers as social media has with the film industry – it's challenging traditional practices, workflows, and established companies.

This wave is creating a new generation of home-grown developers and app designers. While most may become illusionary developers, some will shine brightly, similar to great social media influencers. What makes this wave particularly significant is that when people have the luxury to create applications, they hold the key to digital spaces and can potentially create platforms rivaling what big companies build – and we might see this within a decade.

Adapting to the New Landscape

For Non-Developers

Leverage vibe coding technology and its tools to create applications, but learn the art of application development. It's similar to someone creating YouTube videos who has never touched a camera – they must learn the art of filmmaking to become successful. If you follow the process and understand the small intricacies, the platform will handle the rest.

The same applies to vibe coding. Put in the hard work to actually leverage this technology and become an application developer from the ground up. The opportunities will follow.

For Experienced Developers

This is a golden opportunity if you can see past the initial resistance. Break the psychological behavior of writing code line by line. Yes, traditional coding is an art form, but those days are evolving if we want to add value in the present time.

Your traditional skills give you an upper edge because you understand the behind-the-scenes details. You can comprehend what AI and vibe coding platforms are doing and become friends with the technology – sometimes as its mentor, sometimes as a student. It will teach you many things, and you'll teach it in return.

I've been there as a hardcore full-stack developer. After overcoming the initial love-hate relationship, I started seeing the benefits. The real success story? This website and a smart AI assistant that traditionally would have taken me months to develop – I completed it in days, not weeks.

Technology's Natural Evolution

Technology has always been disruptive to traditions. It creates new possibilities and tends to overwrite existing paradigms. Look at the history of any field – from physical theaters to cinema to television to mobile platforms. Each disruption changed how artists use platforms and connect with audiences.

The same evolution is happening in development: from FORTRAN and COBOL to C and C++ to Java and Python, and now AI. Those who survive are people who appreciate innovation while bridging traditional technology with modern solutions. Java is a perfect example – it's still releasing new versions, with frameworks like Spring creating solutions for LLMs.

Many languages have died (remember Adobe Flex and ActionScript?), while others like JavaScript and TypeScript have thrived. I was once an expert in technologies that nobody knows today. The developers who embraced new technologies and built up new skills are still evolving and mastering their field.

The Spiritual Connection

You might wonder how spirituality connects with technology. Everything is connected – it's just your ability to see it. Everything is energy, and technology is simply another form of energy. Spirituality discusses energy, and if you follow principles like the four purusharthas (dharma, artha, kama, moksha), you develop the wisdom to navigate these changes.

Learn from actors who now use social media to promote themselves and gain more fame. Some actors emerged after social media's birth, others much before. See how they're evolving by combining their core film industry skills with new social media technology. Developers can do the same with vibe coding.

The Future Question: Will AI Take Your Job?

My perspective? Not AI, vibe technology, or anything else – your own mindset will be responsible. You can appreciate or criticize it, but you can't ignore it. It's here to stay whether you like it or not. You can either ride this wave or be crushed by it.

As for whether AI will be the last technology created by humans – I don't know for sure, but it does have the capability considering both technological and spiritual angles. It has enormous potential, much larger than social media, and we all know what social media has given and taken from our lives.

Our Responsibility as Creators

The future is being built today, so let's do it ethically. I've seen vibe coding agents not listening to commands or writing unnecessary code. As a developer, I have the skills to correct that, but newcomers might treat it like a toy that gives them the illusion of being a developer.

Some of our fellow developers created this AI technology. Now it's our utmost responsibility to leverage it and build applications ethically while training models for ethical coding practices and behavior. If we do this today, the future might be more beautiful than we've ever imagined.

Remember: With great power comes great responsibility.

Final Thoughts for Newcomers

Even for newcomers entering the app development world, be responsible for what you're building. Don't do it just for money – create value that benefits society. If your application causes harm, AI isn't responsible – you are, as you leveraged it to build it. It's your responsibility to review and test the code it creates.

Welcome to application development, and have a great experience learning and building responsibly.

My Recommended Vibe Coding Toolkit

After extensive testing and real-world usage, here are the tools and models I recommend for effective vibe coding:

IDEs & Development Platforms

Windsurf IDE ⭐ Top Pick
- Exceptional versatility - can write code in any technology stack
- Supports multiple AI models within the same interface
- Great for full-stack development across different frameworks

v0 by Vercel
- Excellent for rapid prototyping and UI development
- Caveat: Tightly coupled with the Vercel ecosystem
- Best for React/Next.js projects

AI Models & Their Strengths

Claude Sonnet 4 ⭐ Best Overall
- Ultimate prompt adherence - follows instructions precisely
- Currently my go-to for complex development tasks
- Still needs more extensive testing, but promising results

Claude Sonnet 3.7 ⭐ Second Best
- Reliable and well-tested
- Sometimes takes creative liberties (like hardcoding values instead of using APIs)
- Good fallback when Sonnet 4 isn't available

Gemini 2.5 Pro ⭐ The Strict Tutor
- Excellent for troubleshooting and debugging
- Provides detailed explanations and catches edge cases
- Great when you need thorough code review

The Art of Model Switching

The real skill in vibe coding is knowing when to switch models based on their strengths:

• Use Claude Sonnet 4 for precise implementation
• Switch to Gemini 2.5 Pro when debugging gets tough
• Try Sonnet 3.7 when you need creative problem-solving
• If you're stuck with one model, don't hesitate to try another

Deployment & Infrastructure

Vercel ⭐ Perfect for Personal Projects
- Outstanding Next.js integration
- Free tier includes:
  • Unlimited personal projects
  • Built-in CI/CD pipeline
  • Global CDN
  • Basic analytics
  • 100GB bandwidth per month
- Usage limits are generous for personal development

General Productivity Tools

For Project Planning & Learning:
- ChatGPT 4o - Great for brainstorming project ideas and creating learning roadmaps
- Claude Sonnet 4 & 3.7 - Excellent for project planning and technical documentation

The key is understanding each tool's personality and strengths, then orchestrating them like a conductor with an orchestra.

Want more perspectives like this? Send me a message or subscribe to my newsletter. Let's navigate this technological revolution together, ethically and responsibly.