Observations on Vibe Coding

I have been using AI to help me in programming for some time now, but I have largely used in tightly scoped instances was well defined, and small contexts.

However, given the rapid improvement of the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs), and the recent release of Gemini 2.5 (which is available for free the first month), I decided to test it out to build a website without thinking too much about it aka vibe coding.

Using only prompts, I was able to build an entire site in Next.js. Gemini was able to come up with templates, and write good CSS in Tailwind. The site is responsive, loads fast, and looks decent.

However occasionally I had to correct Gemini, edit the prompts, and also look through the code to better describe my goals. The following are some observations I made while using Gemini for vibe coding:

  1. AI tools are very good but not perfect. While they can generate code quickly, sometimes they make mistakes.
  2. You still need to know how to code. AI tools can help you write code, but they don't replace the need for a solid understanding of programming concepts. As the application grows it often increases in complexity, and the AI won't be able to keep up. Additionally the application might break, or develop bugs, and without an understanding of programming and the code this might be impossible to resolve.
  3. AI tools can help you learn. If you're new to programming, or a framework, AI tools can be a great way to learn. They can help you understand how to write code, and they can also help you learn new programming languages and frameworks. Gemini's "thinking" process is a very good way of seeing how problems are logically broken down and then solved systematically.
  4. AI tools can help you prototype. If you are working on a new project AI can be a great way to quickly prototype. With very little effort you can get a working prototype up and running, on which you can then iterate. This is very useful for soundboarding ideas, and getting feedback from users.
  5. AI tools help overcome procrastination. If you are struggling to get started on a project, AI tools can help you overcome procrastination. By providing you with a starting point, they can help you get the ball rolling and make it easier to continue working on your project.