Hi, I am a computer nerd. I also took a computer programming class and got the highest score in the class, but I never followed up with advanced classes. Recently, I’ve thought of different ideas for software I’d like to try to create. I’ve heard about vibe coding. I know real programmers make fun of it, but I also have heard so much about it and people using it and paying for it that I have a hard time believing it writes garbage code all the time.

However, whenever I am trying to do things in linux and don’t know how and ask an LLM, it gets it wrong like 85% of the time. Sometimes it helps, but a lot of times it’s fucking stupid and just leads me down a rabbit hole of shit that won’t work. Is all vibe coding actually like that too or does some of it actually work?

For example, I know how to set up a server, ssh in, and get some stuff running. I have an idea for an App and since everyone uses smart phones (unfortunately), I’d probably try to code something for a smart phone. But would it be next to impossible for someone like me to learn? I like nerdy stuff, but I am not experienced at all in coding.

I also am not sure I have the dedication to do hours and hours of code, despite possible autism, unless I were highly fucked up, possibly on huge amounts of caffeine or microdosing something. But like, it doesn’t seem impossible.

Is this a rabbit hole worth falling into? Do most Apps just fail all the time? Is making an App nowadays like trying to win a lotto?

It would be cool to hear from real App developers. I am getting laid off, my expenses are low because I barely made anything at my job, I’ll be getting unemployment, and I am hoping I can get a job working 20-30 hours a week and pay for my living expenses, which are pretty low.

Is this a stupid idea? I did well in school, but I’m not sure that means anything. Also, when I was in the programming class, the TA seemed much, much smarter at programming and could intuitively solve coding problems much faster due to likely a higher IQ. I’m honestly not sure my IQ is high enough to code. My IQ is probably around 112, but I also sometimes did better than everyone on tests for some reason, maybe because I’m a nerd. I’m not sure I will have the insight to tackle hard coding problems, but I’m not sure if those actually occur in real coding.

  • josefo@leminal.space
    1·
    1 day ago

    Great summary. I would add not using LLMs to learn something new. As OP mentioned, when you know your stuff, you are aware of how much it bullshits. What happens when you don’t know? You eat all the bullshit because it sounds good. Or you will end up with a vibed codebase you can’t fully understand because you didn’t reason to produce it. It’s like driving a car and having a shitty copilot that sometimes hallucinates roads, and if you don’t know where you are supposed to be, wherever that copilot takes you would look good. You lack the context to judge the results or advice.

    I basically use it now days as a semantic search engine of documentation. Talking with documentation is the coolest. If the response doesn’t come with a doc link, it’s probably not worth it. Make it point to the human input, make it help you find things you don’t know the name of, but never trust the output without judging. In my experience, making it generate code that you end up correcting it’s more cognitive heavy load than to write it yourself from scratch.