The term "vibe coding" was introduced by Andrej Karpathy, describing a trend where developers engage primarily with AI agents instead of directly manipulating code. Despite its popularity and the narrative that AI might replace software engineers, the article emphasizes the enduring importance of traditional software engineering. It defines engineering as the process of creating systems that meet evolving needs over time, highlighting that vibe coding merely represents a method of coding, not the comprehensive engineering discipline essential for long-lasting software solutions.
When the tornado comes whipping through your neighborhood and your house gets blown down and somehow you didn't have insurance and you lose everything, you can't control that. But you can certainly control how you're gonna react to that situation.
The integrated over time part is crucial. It highlights that software engineering isn't simply writing a functioning program but building a system that successfully serves the needs, can scale to the demand, and is able to evolve over its complete lifespan.
Vibe coding only covers coding at a single point in time. If an agent is used to generate a quick prototype and validate it with tests, that's coding - not engineering.
AI has radically transformed coding and will soon replace all software engineers. While AI undeniably impacts the way we write code, it hasn't fundamentally changed our role as engineers.
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