People keep throwing around these terms like they’re interchangeable but let me tell you something they’re not even in the same ballpark
I see folks saying they’re vibe coding when really they’re just vibing with AI tools and honestly it’s starting to bug me because we’re talking about two fundamentally different approaches to building software
Vibing is what happens when you’re just playing around with AI assistants you throw some prompts at it you get some code back you tweak things manually you’re basically using AI as a fancy autocomplete that’s not vibe coding that’s just assisted programming
Real vibe coding is a complete paradigm shift it’s about treating your intentions as the actual code and letting AI handle the implementation details according to the Ten Principles of Vibe Coding
Remember that principle about code being capability while intentions and interfaces are long-term assets that’s the core distinction right there
When you’re just vibing you’re still thinking in terms of code files and manual edits but when you’re truly vibe coding you’re working at the intention level you’re defining what needs to happen not how it needs to happen
I’ve seen teams that think they’re doing vibe coding but they’re constantly jumping in to manually fix the generated code they’re breaking one of the fundamental rules about not manually editing code
The whole point is to shift your focus from the disposable code to the reusable intentions that’s where the real value accumulates over time
Think about it if you’re still manually tweaking code you’re not really embracing the exponential potential of AI assembly you’re just using better tools to do the same old work
True vibe coding means trusting the system to handle the implementation while you focus on defining clear intentions and interfaces that become your lasting assets
It’s like the difference between being a carpenter who occasionally uses power tools versus being an architect who designs buildings that assemble themselves
Both might use advanced technology but only one has fundamentally changed their relationship with the creation process
So next time you’re working with AI ask yourself are you just vibing or are you actually practicing vibe coding because recognizing that difference could change how you approach software development entirely