The latest articles on Forem by Schneider Josias (@bee_boistv). https://forem.com/bee_boistv https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3830506%2F4b084954-2a6f-4e48-83dc-42c98bf98ee1.jpg https://forem.com/bee_boistv en Schneider Josias Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:45:05 +0000 https://forem.com/bee_boistv/the-vibe-coding-backlash-is-coming-and-its-justified-2hb1 https://forem.com/bee_boistv/the-vibe-coding-backlash-is-coming-and-its-justified-2hb1 <p>Hot take: the "vibe coding" trend is creating a generation of developers who can't debug their own code.</p> <h2> What I'm Seeing </h2> <p>I mentor junior developers at a startup. In the last 6 months, I've noticed a pattern:</p> <ol> <li>Junior dev gets stuck on a feature</li> <li>They paste the requirement into Claude/GPT</li> <li>They get working code back</li> <li>They ship it without understanding it</li> <li>It breaks in production</li> <li>They can't fix it because they don't understand what they shipped</li> </ol> <p>This isn't a hypothetical. I've seen it happen 4 times in the last month.</p> <h2> The Problem Isn't AI </h2> <p>AI coding tools are incredible. I use them every day. The problem is using them as a replacement for understanding instead of an accelerator.</p> <p>When I use an AI agent, I:</p> <ul> <li>Read every line it generates</li> <li>Understand why it made each choice</li> <li>Modify the output to fit our patterns</li> <li>Write the tests myself (usually)</li> </ul> <p>When vibe coders use AI:</p> <ul> <li>Copy entire output</li> <li>Run it</li> <li>If it works, ship it</li> <li>If it doesn't, paste the error back into AI</li> </ul> <h2> The Real Cost </h2> <p>Vibe-coded systems are <strong>expensive to maintain</strong>. The code works but nobody on the team truly understands it. When it breaks at 2am, you can't "vibe" your way to a fix.</p> <p>I've seen a 2000-line module that no human on the team could explain. It worked perfectly for 3 months. Then an API changed and it took 4 days to fix something that should have taken 2 hours.</p> <h2> What We Should Do Instead </h2> <ol> <li> <strong>Use AI as a tutor, not a ghost writer.</strong> Ask it to explain its code before you use it.</li> <li> <strong>Write the hard parts yourself.</strong> Use AI for boilerplate, not for core logic.</li> <li> <strong>If you can't explain it, don't ship it.</strong> Simple rule that prevents 90% of the problems.</li> </ol> <p>AI will make great developers better. But it won't make non-developers into great developers. There's no shortcut to understanding.</p> <p><em>Agree? Disagree? I want to hear from both sides.</em></p> ai programming discuss beginners