Vibe coding isn’t a formal technical term, but it’s become a slang or colloquial expression among programmers and tech communities—especially on social media and in creative coding circles.
What “vibe coding” usually means:
Coding based on intuition or feel Instead of rigidly planning everything out, you’re:
Freestyling as you code
Trusting your gut
Letting ideas evolve naturally
Following the “vibe” of what feels right in the moment
Flow state or artistic mindset It’s often associated with being in a flow, where:
You’re fully immersed in the process
You’re experimenting and playing with ideas
You might not be solving a defined problem—just exploring
Aesthetic-driven coding Especially in creative coding (e.g. making generative art, animations, visuals with tools like p5.js, Processing, or shaders), vibe coding can mean:
Writing code to produce visually interesting or aesthetically pleasing results
Not optimizing or following best practices strictly
Prioritizing vibes over efficiency
Non-serious, low-stakes projects It often happens during:
Hackathons
Side projects
Late-night tinkering
“Coding for fun” rather than for work
Example in practice:
“I didn’t plan this out—I just started vibe coding and ended up with this weird little game that turns your keyboard into a synth.”
So, vibe coding is more about the mindset and approach to coding than any particular language or framework. It’s spontaneous, creative, and informal.
What is vibe coding?
by Michael Levin
Jun 9
Vibe coding isn’t a formal technical term, but it’s become a slang or colloquial expression among programmers and tech communities—especially on social media and in creative coding circles.
What “vibe coding” usually means:
Instead of rigidly planning everything out, you’re:
It’s often associated with being in a flow, where:
Especially in creative coding (e.g. making generative art, animations, visuals with tools like p5.js, Processing, or shaders), vibe coding can mean:
It often happens during:
Example in practice:
“I didn’t plan this out—I just started vibe coding and ended up with this weird little game that turns your keyboard into a synth.”
So, vibe coding is more about the mindset and approach to coding than any particular language or framework. It’s spontaneous, creative, and informal.
credit: ChatGPT