What vibecoding is

The mental model that separates people who ship working software by vibecoding from people who generate an impressive mess. It has three moves you repeat: describe one small piece precisely, verify the AI actually delivered it, then iterate to the next piece — committing the working version each time.

A side-by-side of the two ways to build software, so you can see what actually changes when you vibecode — and what doesn't. Vibecoding shifts *how* the code gets written, but it does not remove the need to understand what good software looks like.

Vibecoding is building software by describing what you want to an AI in plain language and letting it write the code, while you steer and check the result instead of typing every line. The word captures the *feel* — you follow the vibe, say what you want next, and watch an app appear. In practice the version that ships something real is a tight loop: describe a small piece, look at what came back, verify it does what you meant, then describe the next piece.

A realistic map of where vibecoding produces good results fast and where it quietly leads you into trouble. Knowing the difference up front saves you from betting a serious project on an approach that fits a weekend prototype.