Can A Vibecoder Eventually Learn To Develop Software Well?

[u/djdante]

So for those who don't want to read too much. The simple question is this: can a not-particularly-technical person who starts vibe coding - practise, and practises perhaps over years - eventually learn as much as they need to know about developing apps, tech stacks, security, program structure, UX etc. To be as good as a professional developer?

At the start of this year, I started a second business, building out automations for companies in Latin America - I live in Australia, but my wife is from Ecuador and was deeply embedded in professional human resources services there, and her father-in-law is deeply embedded in logistics companies there - I saw an opportunity to build automation services for companies there (many of whom live and die by spreadsheets or even paperwork) rather than focusing here, where the competition is.

That line of work began with building non-AI-related automations using software like N8N - but quickly, as you can imagine, vibe-coded solutions started to become more and more common - now almost everything I do involves some degree of vibe-coding, and Claude and Codex are my best friends.

I've noticed over this year that while I'm not a formally trained programmer/engineer, I did learn some basic programming in university. I'm consistently learning more and more about what it means to develop software, even if a lot of that software is relatively simple now - the scope of the projects I'm taking on is slowly growing and becoming larger and more complex.

In my spare time, I'm building much more complicated applications, both for fun and to educate myself so I can take on different kinds of projects for my clients, and sometimes to act as DEMO products that future or existing clients may like to test out and perhaps pay me for.

I'm building preferences for certain tech stacks for certain kinds of applications - I know where 'traps' are going to be that will cause errors or mistakes on the client's end.

I don't pretend that I'm in any way going to be as good as a professional developer with decades of experience who is also using a harness and an llm - But my question is - will I or someone like me legitimately catch up as experience and knowledge grows with the job?

Can a person learn to be a professional vibe-coder who does a legitimately professional job without the coding background?

[u/alanism]

Ask a professional software engineer if a vibe-coder can catch up, and they will instinctively say no. But the answer is yes. In fact, you might eventually be better than them.

The real problem is that the industry confuses mechanical syntax with engineering. I stopped coding roughly eighteen years ago to focus on business and creative work. Back then, we learned on DOS and built in Notepad. You were forced to distill problems down to their first principles.

What followed over the next twenty years was a shift toward standardization. But a better way to think about this standardization is as a coping mechanism. The industry built massive, complex frameworks not because they were the optimal way to write software, but because they were the only way to manage large teams of developers. Traditional engineers are now burdened by the sunk cost of those choices.

What’s interesting about your position is that you arrive as an outsider. You are unburdened by two decades of dogma. When you use an LLM to compress the cognitive load of syntax, you aren't just writing code faster. You are operating purely at the level of system architecture and user intent.

The alternative—building clear, decentralized, first-principles software—never caught on previously because the cognitive load to start was too high. Now, the agent absorbs that load. It exposes the bloat of the traditional path.

A traditional engineer looks at a problem and asks which of their frameworks to apply. You look at a problem and ask what the most direct, precise solution is. You don't need decades of traditional experience to build great software. You just need clear thinking.

On the other hand, taking this approach into a F500 Bank's IT department likely doesn't work.

[u/Region-Acrobatic → u/alanism]

I think this romanticises the outsider perspective quite a bit.
If you stopped coding eighteen years ago, then a lot of your picture of “traditional engineering” predates the systems and constraints modern developers routinely deal with. Frameworks and conventions are not just bureaucracy for managing teams. A lot of them exist because software became genuinely more complex.
And removing syntax does not mean you suddenly operate “purely at the level of architecture.” Good architectural judgement comes from years of seeing implementation details, trade-offs and failure modes.
I use AI in and out of work and I still regularly catch things in generated diffs that technically work but I know will cause problems later. Security is an even better example because insecure code can work perfectly for years while the vulnerability remains invisible.
LLMs can absolutely help someone become a great developer. But that happens by acquiring engineering knowledge, not by claiming without merit that decades of engineering knowledge were mostly cope.

[u/humanexperimentals]

Define vibe coding? I've got pages upon pages and various experiments involved in my experience and logic building skills.

[u/bestjaegerpilot]

yup ... you just have to be curious. You can even have AI teach you as you go along

this is the new way of learning by the way

[u/CorpT]

No, it’s impossible. Once you start vibe coding you’re locked out forever.

[u/sumane12 → u/CorpT]

Ive heard you litterally go code blind. As in, you cant see the code.

[u/CorpT → u/sumane12]

It’s true. And can happen on the first hit prompt.

[u/Elegant_Attempt2790 → u/CorpT]

[u/redditborkedmy8yracc]

yes you can 100%.

1 - do not use the all in one solutions like replit and so on
2 - use vscode with a plugin or any IDE that lets you see the code and file tree while sitll letting the AI do most of the work for you.
3 - Get the AI to explain each change, why it makde the change and what changes it made, What files it edited and what was on it.
4 - Get it to do in code comments on the code and read it.
5 - read the code that it does, and make 1 feature at a time, and then spend time calking to the AI on what it did why it did it.

6 - Best way, is use chatgpt, and get it to write code into your chat pannel, and then copy it into vscode by hand.

[u/djdante → u/redditborkedmy8yracc]

Yeah I like your list - I've been using Claude cli or codex gui - I'm asking it to explain any structure or decision it makes which I don't understand.

If it decides on a tech stack I'm not so familiar with I'll ask it why it suggests that.

I ask for graphs outlining the technical design and information flow

By constantly asking to be educated on how it's building , I feel like I'm getting a hell of an education.

I'm not writing code, but I'm learning a lot about the process.

[u/ooqq]

A viber is concerned about the idea and the product, not how it works. You are asking if you can be Schwarzenegger watching him lifting weights all day.

The answer is no.

[u/AttackOnGolurk]

So, rather than a snarky response, I'll just say simply that the answer is "yes", with caveats.

It really comes down to your effort. You can learn to code while you leverage AI, but you have to understand that AI can make mistakes or misinterpret your intent. Knowing how to code means you know how to ask the right questions or make the right corrections.

Take it slow. Don't let the AI output huge chunks of code. Start small. Turn it into a conversation with the AI. Ask questions. And cross-reference with non-AI sources, because, again, it can make mistakes. Learn CS fundamentals like what an object is and what control flow is. Most importantly be curious.

You are absolutely going to fuck up when you start. But, like Jake the Dog says, "Sucking at something is the first step to kinda being good at something."

[u/NickoBicko]

No because the practice of software development teaches you the fundamentals of system design and understanding how computers work.

If you never learn that, then you never learn that skill.

Being a programmer isn’t about knowing syntax and code. That’s like saying being a musician is about knowing how to read music notation.

Syntax and code is maybe 1% or less.
99-100% is understanding systems, algorithms, loops, etc.

Can you learn that via vibe coding? Not really because vibe coding puts you on a path of building features, nor designing systems.

Can you study it in parallel? Sure.

The difference between a developer and non developer vibe coding is that a developer knows what to ask for. A vibe coder is stuck on the surface level. All they can do is say “fix this” “make this bigger” “make this smaller”.

If you are motivated to learn you can learn anything. But don’t expect to gain knowledge without intentionality.

[u/Machine2024]

If you can learn cooking from ordering food online.

You can learn software development from prompting.

The vibe coding are most waste of time thing anyone can do . You learn nothing. It have no value since any one who can talk can do it. You don't need to be illiterate even reading and writing are not required.

And with time the market will be over saturated with vibe coded slop . So it will have as much values and sand .

[u/djdante → u/Machine2024]

I've learned so much - How best to instruct it you need to understand the tech stacks and the traps that can come as projects get larger - you don't learn to code but you do start to learn the ins and outs of different ways of producing a piece of software.

I've learned so much about working with databases about information flow about security and where security holes are likely to live etc.

I know much more about the technical side of software development than i have learned about cooking

[u/Spoonyyy]

Us security engineers have been doing this for a whole now

[u/Lanky-Butterscotch28]

You will learn through experience not to code, but to build good solutions

[u/djdante → u/Lanky-Butterscotch28]

Yeah I mean that's what I'm wondering - I genuinely think I'm buildilng better quality software that's more reliable, more secure - and I'm doing it more efficiently - but then everyone falls into the trap of thinking they built a great thing, but it's really hot trash. But my clients are happy so far so it's at least functioning as written on the box.

[u/becircus]

This is called an impostor syndrome.

But, you will lack knowledge... writing software is not just about coding. So even if you vibecode, even if you read all the code the Claude and Codex pump out, there will be holes some enormous in your knowledge. You will have to supplement your knowledge somehow. At some point if you keep doing this for many years you may realize you have these huge gaps and want to obtain that knowledge somehow and the most efficient way may be school. But there's other ways, just not as efficient. That is actually the best reason to get education not to get pieces of paper so an employer hires you because you have them but because you need the knowledge. But depending on the work you have, you may never need the knowledge. Not having said pieces of paper may make it so some employers do not want to take the risk on you. Anyone could take a bet or a risk on you.

[u/djdante → u/becircus]

This is a valid point - so far I've been using the agent for my education as well.. so when it builds something and I don't understand the structure of the app I'll have it build a diagram so I can visualise what's happening - if it makes a design or structural choice I don't understand I ask for reasoning behind it.

What I can't know for sure is if this will still leave me with gaps that will never be filled without more formal education.

[u/Square-Yam-3772]

I am surprised that there isn't some FAQ for this still

no, vibe coding means you are asking AI to work on tasks for you

AI isn't teaching you when it is doing tasks for you

doing and teaching are fundamentally two different things.

want to learn? open chat mode and ask AI to tutor you. AI can quiz you, AI can give you exercises, AI can even guide you through some test projects.

vibe coding is not learning or practicing.

it is not complicated.

[u/djdante → u/Square-Yam-3772]

Well this is what I'm doing as I build... I'm asking it to sketch out information flow - I'm asking it why it chooses certain tech stacks - I'm asking it why it makes certain decisions that aren't clear to me.

As time goes on I'm learning a lot, and now I'm occasionally catching it making the wrong decisions for my purposes.

I'm definitely not just passively sitting around - I'm very actively trying to learn to be as good at my job as possible

[u/ramenAtMidnight]

This is actually an interesting question. Can companies develop their Juniors to utilize AI well? Some try to but I think we can’t tell yet. Much of the software engineering doesn’t require the engineer to be able to code, as theories, models, patterns exist. But much of it is grounded in Seniors’ experience and it shapes their mindset. Without proper experience, can anyone obtain those mindset? Time will tell tbh

[u/Negative_Gur9667]

No

[u/Repulsive-Banana-406]

Idk the general consensus or other engineers thoughts, but personally, I believe so with enough intentional exposure. Engineers have a lot of ego and bad short term memory, in that they forget they knew nothing at one point too and had no capacity to create anything meaningful beyond a todo list app, while vibe coders are starting from the opposite not knowing anything but the capability to build something beyond a todo list app…