I think this prediction of "vibe code cleanup" is massively overblown. It's amazing how much code quality doesn't actually matter to the business. Yes we recognize symptoms and downsides of bad code, and yes it matters specifically to the engineers that have to work on it. But only in extreme cases does bad code actually cause an existential threat to the business. The world already runs on bad code.
Vibe coding cleanup as a service
141–150 of 151 posts
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the issues with vibe coding vs. outsourcing agencies is the sheer volume of code it can produce in a short amount of time. I vibe-coded a simple helper script. If I wrote it myself it would have been 1/3rd the lines, not covered most edge cases (some of which were completely irrelevant, some of which actually useful), and it would have taken me way longer than just checking if the vibe-coded code works (this w…
I like to keep a personal recipe book of prompt modifiers. For bash scripting I often write my prompt and then copy-paste the following to prompt: ``` When making edits to the script, ensure the script remains - Idempotent - Functional after a fresh install of a virtual machine Additionally, keep things stupid simple and avoid: - Unnecessary error checks - Defining colors and custom logging functions - Bells and wist…
In general I usually toss “follow KISS principles” into nearly every plan prompt. If you tell it that, it helps cut out a lot of the noise and only focuses on the core functionality
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still maintain that the original tweet about it was a joke, or at least not a suggestion for doing real work but just a reflection on the freedom of yolo mode coding. It wasn't meant to be instructions.
I'm not sure.. I kind of remembered it that way too, although perhaps not so much as a joke but just a throwaway tweet of what he was up so - experimenting with AI and having fun. However, I just searched up his tweet, and now I'm not so sure - he seemed to be advocating it as a new way of coding. https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383
> It's not too bad for throwaway weekend projects, but still quite amusing
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#144It's a bit strange that Karpathy's "vibe coding" ever gained traction as a concept, although perhaps only among those without enough experience to know better. As I understand it, what Karpathy was referring to as "vibe coding" was some sort of flow state "just talk to the AI, never look back" thing. Don't look at the generated code, just feel the AGI vibes ... It sounds absolutely horrific if you care even the tinie…
For many non-technical people, their relationships with software engineers were producing horrific results. Vibe coding is an indictment of what we’ve been delivering. That a vibe-coded disaster is in any way desirable reflects poorly on us. The branding by Karpathy is cute but irrelevant to its success. I know people running vibe coded startups. The software quality is garbage. But it does what they want. And that’s…
Are they preferring AI over humans because the AI gives them what they want and humans don't? I thought they prefer AI over humans because AI is much cheaper and faster.
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#145From the jump, even without the emdashes, it was crystal clear that this post was written by Claude. I'm sure the OP put their own ideas into the prompt, provided some sources, etc. But reading some of these phrases provoked a pretty visceral sense that I'm just reading an LLM's output: "The harsh reality" "he perfectly captured" "architectural decisions that make senior engineers weep" "fundamental issue" It makes m…
Microsoft word auto corrects hyphens to em dashes in most cases.
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
For many non-technical people, their relationships with software engineers were producing horrific results. Vibe coding is an indictment of what we’ve been delivering. That a vibe-coded disaster is in any way desirable reflects poorly on us. The branding by Karpathy is cute but irrelevant to its success. I know people running vibe coded startups. The software quality is garbage. But it does what they want. And that’s…
>I know people running vibe coded startups. The software quality is garbage. But it does what they want. And that’s all they care about for now. Until a time when software quality impacts their business more than losing control does, they’ll keep vibe coding, rather than hiring a software engineer who bastardises their ideas. Well, IKEA's furniture quality is garbage yet they make billions. It's cheap and fast. That'…
I wouldn't say IKEA furniture is garbage, or comparable to some vibe coded mess that may contain who knows how many bugs and vulnerabilities.
IKEA furniture is obviously a trade off between quality and cost, but it does what it is designed to do.
Capitalism isn't just a race to the bottom - there are markets for products at all sorts of price points.
Maybe typical Supermarket produce section = IKEA is a better comparison than vibe coding = IKEA, although whether a tomato that tastes of nothing is really doing it's job is debatable.
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let me know when aerospace engineers are letting an AI build their planes for them.
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/math-innovation/pioneering-future-...
That's an incredibly dishonest reading of my comment. Using ML to build simulations is different than letting an LLM build the plane for you.
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the issues with vibe coding vs. outsourcing agencies is the sheer volume of code it can produce in a short amount of time. I vibe-coded a simple helper script. If I wrote it myself it would have been 1/3rd the lines, not covered most edge cases (some of which were completely irrelevant, some of which actually useful), and it would have taken me way longer than just checking if the vibe-coded code works (this w…
I like to keep a personal recipe book of prompt modifiers. For bash scripting I often write my prompt and then copy-paste the following to prompt: ``` When making edits to the script, ensure the script remains - Idempotent - Functional after a fresh install of a virtual machine Additionally, keep things stupid simple and avoid: - Unnecessary error checks - Defining colors and custom logging functions - Bells and wist…
I'd love to see some more of that recipe book. If you don't want to share here, my Gmail username is the same as my HN username.
Thank you!
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#149I'm pretty good at getting LLMs to write well-tested, production-ready code. I think it's a matter of knowing the right tools and techniques to use and steering the project in the right direction. Type-checking, linting, and a solid test suite go a very long way. It would be a nightmare to work on any project without these. It could be interesting to take on a consulting project. I haven't done any contract work for…
Agreed, seeing similar good results with those guardrails. Also seeing good results when you actually spend energy and think through the high-level architecture (and document it). Makes it a lot easier for the LLM to snap into place and pattern match.
Re: Vibe coding cleanup as a service
#150It's a bit strange that Karpathy's "vibe coding" ever gained traction as a concept, although perhaps only among those without enough experience to know better. As I understand it, what Karpathy was referring to as "vibe coding" was some sort of flow state "just talk to the AI, never look back" thing. Don't look at the generated code, just feel the AGI vibes ... It sounds absolutely horrific if you care even the tinie…
Like it or not vibe coding is here to stay, I too don't agree with the concept but have told people in my org that I've 'vibe coded' this or 'vibe coded' that. To us it just means we used AI to write most of the code. I would never have it be put into production without any type of review though, it's more for "I vibe coded this cool app, take a look, maybe this can be something bigger..."
But ... why? Saying you "vibe coded" when you actually didn't makes you sound like you are doing something, well, dumber than you are actually doing, while also giving unrealistic expectations to people who don't realize you aren't actually vibe coding.