If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C? • Hacker News Board

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#231

Post by burnte » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:20 PM UTC

gitremote wrote: post #33

Software development jobs must be very diverse if even this anti-vibe-coding guy thinks AI coding definitely makes developers more productive. In my work, the bigger bottleneck to productivity is that very few people can correctly articulate requirements. I work in backend, API development, which is completely different from fullstack development with backend development. If you ask PMs about backend requirements, th…

"the bigger bottleneck to productivity is that very few people can correctly articulate requirements."

I've found the same way. I just published an AI AUP for my company and most of it is teaching folks HOW to use AI.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#232

Post by sureglymop » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:22 PM UTC

gitremote wrote: post #33

Software development jobs must be very diverse if even this anti-vibe-coding guy thinks AI coding definitely makes developers more productive. In my work, the bigger bottleneck to productivity is that very few people can correctly articulate requirements. I work in backend, API development, which is completely different from fullstack development with backend development. If you ask PMs about backend requirements, th…

Also that requirements engineering in general isn't being done correctly.

I'm the last guy to be enthused about any "ritualistic" seeming businessy processes. Just let me code...

However, some things do need actually well defined adhered to processes where all parties are aware of and agreeing with the protocol.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#233

Post by J_Shelby_J » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:22 PM UTC

ActorNightly wrote: post #109

markstos wrote: post #105

I have successfully vibe-coded features in C. I still don't like C. The agent forgets to free memory latter just like a human would and has to go back and fix it later. On the other hand, I've enjoyed vibe coding Rust more, because I'm interested in Rust and felt like my understanding approved along they way as I saw what code was produced. A lot of coding "talent" isn't skill with the language, it's learning all the…

> The agent forgets to free memory latter just like a human would and has to go back and fix it later. I highly recommend people learn how to write their own agents. Its really not that hard. You can do it with any llm model, even ones that run locally. I.e you can automate things like checking for memory freeing.

I use rust. The compiler is my agent.

Or to quote Rick and Morty, “that’s just rust with extra steps!”

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#234

Post by oleganza » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:22 PM UTC

I asked ChatGPT what traits should vibe-oriented programming language have and oh boy did it deliver.

(https://chatgpt.com/share/693891af-d608-8002-8b9b-91e984bb13...)

* boring and straightforward syntax and file structure: no syntax sugar, aliases, formatting freedom that humans cherish, but machines are getting confused, no context-specific syntax.

* explicitness: no hidden global state, shortcuts and UB

* basic static types and constraints

* tests optimized for machine evaluation

etc.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#235

Post by phendrenad2 » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:23 PM UTC

I think this is the future. We'll probably end up with some variant of Perl (joking - or am I?)

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#236

Post by johnsmith1840 » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:24 PM UTC

lunar_mycroft wrote: post #161

epolanski wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No I'm not, I'm just sick of these edgy takes where AI does not improve productivity when it obviously does. Even if you limit your AI experience to finding information online through deep research it's such a time saver and productivity booster that makes a lot of difference. The list of things it can do for you is massive, even if you don't have it write a single line of code. Yet the counter argument is like "bu..…

It "obviously" does based on what, exactly? For most devs (and it appears you, based on your comments) the answer is "their own subjective impressions", but that METR study ( https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.09089 ) should have completely killed any illusions that that is a reliable metric (note: this argument works regardless of how much LLMs have improved since the study period, because it's about how accurate dev's impr…

It's a good study. I also believe it is not an easy skill to learn. I would not say I have 10x output but easily 20%

When I was early in use of it I would say I sped up 4x but now after using it heavily for a long time some days it's 20% other days -20%

It's a very difficuly technology to know when you're one or the other.

The real thing to note is when you "feel" lazy and using AI you are almost certainly in the -20% category. I've had days of not thinking and I have to revert all the code from that day because AI jacked it up so much.

To get that speed up you need to be truly focused 100% or risk death by a thousand cuts.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#237

Post by keeda » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:27 PM UTC

gitremote wrote: post #33

Software development jobs must be very diverse if even this anti-vibe-coding guy thinks AI coding definitely makes developers more productive. In my work, the bigger bottleneck to productivity is that very few people can correctly articulate requirements. I work in backend, API development, which is completely different from fullstack development with backend development. If you ask PMs about backend requirements, th…

This feels like addressing a point TFA did not make. TFA talks mostly about vibe-coding speeding up coding, whereas your comment is about software development as a whole. As you point out, coding is just one aspect of engineering and we must be clear about what "productivity" we are talking about.

Sure, there are the overhypers who talk about software engineers getting entirely replaced, but I get the sense those are not people who've ever done software development in their lives. And I have not seen any credible person claiming that engineering as whole can be done by AI.

On the other hand, the most grounded comments about AI-assisted programming everywhere are about the code, and maybe some architecture and design aspects. I personally, along with many other commenters here and actual large-scale studies, have found that AI does significantly boost coding productivity.

So yes, actual software engineering is much more than coding. But note that even if coding is, say, only 25% of engineering (there are actually studies about this), putting a significant dent in that is still a huge boost to overall productivity.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#238

Post by pron » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:28 PM UTC

gitremote wrote: post #33

Software development jobs must be very diverse if even this anti-vibe-coding guy thinks AI coding definitely makes developers more productive. In my work, the bigger bottleneck to productivity is that very few people can correctly articulate requirements. I work in backend, API development, which is completely different from fullstack development with backend development. If you ask PMs about backend requirements, th…

The thing is that some imagined AI that can reliably produce reliable software will also likely be able to be smart enough to come up with the requirements on its own. If vibe coding is that capable, then even vibe coding itself is redundant. In other words, vibe coding cannot possibly be "the future", because the moment vibe coding can do all that, vibe coding doesn't need to exist.

The converse is that if vibe coding is the future, that means we assume there are things the AI cannot do well (such as come up with requirements), at which point it's also likely it cannot actually vibe code that well.

The general problem is that once we start talking about imagined AI capabilities, both the capabilities and the constraints become arbitrary. If we imagine an AI that does X but not Y, we could just as easily imagine an AI that does both X and Y.

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#239

Post by naths88 » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:31 PM UTC

d-lisp wrote: post #42

naths88 wrote: post #23

I have been coding as an autodidact for 20 years now. In the past months, I have been vibe coding a lot, with multiple AIs at the same time. I have achieved to code a full webapp (React and Next.js for the front, RestJS for the back) in five days. Refactoring, adding features and writing the right tests for everything to work has been procuring me with the same problem solving and endorphin kicks as usual programming…

Do you have a link to the webapp you produced or its source code ? edit: it was a real request, I was being interested, not some mockery or idk

I understand, not yet online, but it will be deployed in a few months for educational purposes (i teach).

Re: If you're going to vibe code, why not do it in C?

#240

Post by BobBagwill » Tue, Dec 09, 2025, 9:32 PM UTC

Vibe Coding is just a stepping stone to No Coding.

No one (other than computer people) wants computers and software, they want results.

This generation of AI will be used to bootstrap the next generation of AI.

Programmers getting excited about vibe coding is like candlemakers getting excited about installing electric lights in their shops, so they can make more candles!