It might feel like you know nothing about coding, software development, or even "vibing." And that's perfectly OK. In fact, that's exactly the point. You are a perfect candidate to begin developing your own digital tools by "vibe coding." What is that? It’s a new approach to software development where you can guide AI assistants using plain language conversations to write code for you, thus eliminating the barrier of entry of needing to learn programming languages.
Because of vibe coding, the software development landscape has shifted dramatically. People with zero technical knowledge are now creating functional websites and applications. I’m talking about not just simple landing pages, but actual working software that solves real problems. Some are even turning these creations into software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses. This isn't science fiction or empty hype. It's happening right now, and you can join in.
I recently attended two Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group meetings on vibe coding, one in Fort Collins and the other in Boulder. While I already had a decent grasp on vibe coding, these meetings offered important insights and valuable tips from high-level practitioners actively using vibe coding in their businesses.
The traditional path to building an app used to look like this: Spend months or years learning to code, memorize rules that define how code must be written for multiple programming languages, and understand complex frameworks. But vibe coding flips that script entirely. Now, if you can describe what you want in plain English, you can build a simple software tool in under an hour.
Think I'm exaggerating? By the end of this article, you will understand exactly how someone who might have played around with ChatGPT a few times could realistically create their own expense tracking app or customer management system, or whatever tool they've been wishing already existed.
Section 2: Vibecoding in Action - What Is the Experience Like?
Let me put you in the driver's seat to experience vibe coding. This isn't abstract theory. This is what happens when you sit down at your computer and decide to vibe code.
A Real Example: Building a Personal Coffee Expense Tracker
Imagine that you are tired of wondering how much you're spending on coffee each month. You started a note on your phone, but then you couldn’t find it. You’ve tried spreadsheets, but they're clunky. You've looked for apps, but they're either too complex or cost too much.
With vibe coding, here's what you'd do:
Step 1: Start with Your Problem. You think, "I want a simple way to track my daily coffee purchases."
Step 2: Type Your Request. You open a vibe coding tool and type something like: "Create a web app where I can enter my daily coffee purchases with the date, coffee shop name, and amount spent. Show me my total spending for the month and which shop I visit most."
Step 3: You Watch the Magic Happen. This is where it gets interesting: Code starts appearing on your screen. You may have no clue what any of it means, but it cranks out HTML for structure, CSS for design, JavaScript for functionality. You don't need to understand any of it.
The AI assistant within the program might pause and ask you questions in plain English: "Would you like to save data locally in your browser or use a database?" You click your preference. More code appears on the screen, and a minute later, another question: "Should I add a chart to visualize your spending?" You click "Yes."
Worried about potentially making a bad decision when asked one of these questions? Don't be. Confidently mashing the "Yes" button when your AI assistant asks you a question is one of the top required skills in the entire process. Often, it will ask you if you want to proceed. The answer is "Yes." If it asks if you want features, the answer is usually "Yes, let's try it!" (That’s especially true for your first few vibe coding projects.)
Step 4: You have a Working App. Within minutes, a functioning expense tracker appears in your browser. You can immediately start entering coffee purchases, watch your monthly total update in real time, and see a chart showing your coffee shop habits. It's not perfect, but it works. And you built it without writing a single line of code.
The Tools That Make This Possible
Don't worry about learning about all of these. Think of this as a menu of options. When you're ready to try vibe coding, you'll likely start with just one:
For Absolute Beginners (No Setup Required):
- Lovable - Super beginner-friendly, works in your browser
- Replit - Instant coding environment
- Bolt - Designed for non-coders, very visual approach
For Those Ready to Dive Deeper:
- Claude Code - Anthropic's coding-focused tool
- Cursor - Professional-grade editor with AI deeply integrated
- Codex - OpenAI’s Good for running many tasks in parallel
- And many more options that are continually emerging
The beauty is that you don't need to master all these tools. Pick one and start experimenting. And remember, you can always pull out ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to ask questions along the way to help you in your process. I cannot emphasize enough how valuable these tools are when you need questions answered or systems explained.
Section 3: The Five Essential Pieces - Understanding What You're Actually Building
Before we delve further into the incredible opportunities and potential challenges you might face, let's understand the basics of development. If I didn't lose you in that sentence, good. Because taking a few minutes to try to understand these five items and how they interact will put you well ahead of other vibe coders, and it will even bring you a step closer to being an actual developer yourself.
Basic development requires five components: frontend, backend, data storage, infrastructure, and version control. When you're vibe coding, these are the necessary components that are utilized to make your application work.
The Five Essential Components Every App Needs:
1 - Frontend = the interface (what users see and interact with): The buttons, forms, colors, layouts - everything visible on your screen when using an app or website
2 - Backend = the code (what your app does): The logic, calculations, and processing that happens behind the scenes when you click those buttons
3 - Data Storage = the memory (where information lives): The database or files where your app saves user login data, preference settings, and any information that needs to persist
4 - Infrastructure = the platform (where your code lives and runs): The servers, hosting services, or cloud platforms that keep your app accessible and running 24/7
5 - Version Control = the history (how changes are tracked and managed); A system that keeps track of every change made to your code, allowing you to go back to previous versions if something breaks
The Magic of Vibe Coding: You Don't Build These All by Yourself
Here's the beautiful part: When you're vibe coding, the AI handles all five components for you. You describe what you want ("track my coffee spending"), and the AI will automatically:
- Create the frontend (designs the buttons and display)
- Write the backend (builds the calculation engine)
- Set up data storage (creates a place to save the information)
- Configure infrastructure (sets up where the app will run)
- Implement version control (tracks your changes as you build)
The vibe coding platform will even insert other specialized tools as needed, all without you having to understand how any of it works technically.
Why This Matters
When you begin to understand these components, vibe coding will not only feel less like magic, but you will also be able to communicate better with your vibe coding platform AI assistant. You’ll also be able to have better conversations with a developer who can make sure your product is secure, backed up properly, and maintained properly, all of which will become essential should you want to solidify your creation for wider use or even take it to market as a product for sale.
Section 4: The Current Reality - Opportunities and Honest Challenges
During the recent Rocky Mountain AI meetings, I learned several other constructive tips for vibe coding. Here are some additional contexts to keep in mind before you begin:
The "Blast Radius" Problem
One of the most truthful warnings about vibe coding came from Nima Keivan, co-founder and CEO at Boulder's Durable, "When you make a change with vibe coding software, you have no clue how wide the blast radius will be."
That is very true. When you ask AI to modify your app, that one small change might unexpectedly break three other features. It's like pulling a thread on a sweater – sometimes you might improve the look, but other times, you can unravel the sleeve. This is why learning about version control (one of the five essential components mentioned above) is extremely useful. With version control, you can revert back to a previous version should something break as you vibe code.
When You'll Need Professional Help
During the Q&A portions of the two events, each of the speakers agreed that vibe coding is fantastic for many use cases. Still, there's a whole host of potential problems before you take software to market. You'll want a professional developer to review your code and help establish best practices if you plan to do any of the following:
- Sell your software as a product
- Continue making changes over time
- Handle sensitive user data
- Scale to many users
Think of it like building a deck off the back of your house: You might be able to assemble something functional for your own backyard, but if you're building something for customers, you'll want to hire a contractor to ensure it's safe and up to code.
The MVP Sweet Spot
Where vibe coding truly shines is in creating MVPs or Minimum Viable Products. Need to quickly test if your business idea has legs? Want to show investors a working prototype? Have an internal tool that would save your team hours? Vibe coding excels at these scenarios.
Here’s another scenario: What if you’re looking to solidify your app by bringing in a developer to look over the code? Andres Sepulveda Morales, CEO of Red Mage Creative Technologies, commented that he would rather have someone bring him a vibe coded app then try to describe it all on paper. “As a developer, there is so much more you can tell about what a customer really wants out of an ‘application build’ from a functioning vibe coded app compared to just a customer’s written instructions). I can actually look at the code and see the flow and how connections are made, and the customer doesn't have to try to learn the technical terminology just to begin communicating with me.”
30 Minutes of Work per Chat Window
The large language models that plan and execute code building have a finite "context window" - a limit on how much text or code they can process at once. As conversations grow longer, especially during intensive coding sessions, the model eventually hits this limit and needs to start "forgetting" earlier parts of the conversation to accommodate new messages. This leads to several problems: The model loses track of earlier decisions, coding patterns, and context about the project structure, resulting in inconsistent suggestions, repeated mistakes, or advice that contradicts earlier recommendations.
Starting fresh chat threads periodically, about every 30 minutes or so of your computer's working time, helps maintain code quality and consistency by giving the model a clean slate to work with your most current codebase and requirements. Starting a new chat window does not mean your vibe coding session has ended. Once you open a new chat window and provide your new chat assistant with some guidance on where you left off in the project, you will continue to vibe code as before.
The more complex your project becomes, the greater the need will be for proper development process documentation and the need to move beyond Vibe Coding 101.
The Knowledge Advantage
While non-coders can absolutely participate, having some technical knowledge significantly improves your outcomes. This doesn't mean learning to code. It means understanding some basics like the following:
- What's the difference between storing data locally vs. in the cloud?
- What programming language might work best for your needs?
- Which database is most suitable for your application?
This knowledge helps you make informed choices instead of just accepting whatever defaults the AI suggests. There are tools available that are optimized for specific situations, and using a general solution provided by the vibe coding platform might not be the best approach.
What You Still Need to Bring. These observations came from multiple speakers, but primarily from the commentary of Michael Hedgpeth, co-founder at Hedge-Ops Software. Continued success with vibe coding requires:
- Deep understanding of the problem you're solving (not necessarily the code)
- Active engagement throughout the process (this isn't "set it and forget it")
- Willingness to iterate and experiment (your first version won't be perfect)
- Patience with the learning curve (yes, even vibe coding has one)
The reality? Vibe coding isn't replacing professional developers tomorrow, but it is giving non-technical people unprecedented ability to create functional software. It's a powerful tool for prototyping, learning, and solving personal or internal business problems.
Section 5: The Benefits Today and The Path Forward
Let's talk about what vibecoding means for you right now, not in some distant future.
Immediate Benefits You Can Access Today
Learning happens differently with vibe coding. Instead of spending months studying theory before writing your first line of code, you learn by doing. You see immediate results, understand cause and effect, and build confidence through successful creation rather than abstract exercises. The focus shifts from memorizing programming languages to understanding logic and problem-solving approaches – skills expected to be highly prized in the years ahead as AI transforms the modern workplace.
Real-World Applications Already Happening
Small business owners are creating custom inventory trackers, appointment schedulers, and customer feedback systems tailored precisely to their needs. Teachers are creating interactive learning tools tailored to their specific curriculum. Individuals are solving their own workflow problems with custom applications they couldn't find anywhere else.
And the consensus among six speakers I listened to was clear: As mentioned previously, Vibe coding excels at creating Minimum Viable Products. Startups and entrepreneurs are using it to test market interest before investing in traditional development, and established businesses are prototyping internal tools to improve efficiency.
The Learning Path Ahead
If you're interested in trying vibe coding, here's your practical roadmap: Start by picking a straightforward problem you want to solve, something personal that would make your life easier. Choose one of the beginner-friendly platforms mentioned earlier. Spend 30 minutes exploring, and don't worry about creating something perfect. The goal is to experience the process and understand what's possible.
As you get comfortable, you will naturally progress from simple single-purpose tools to more complex applications. You'll start recognizing patterns in how applications work and develop an intuition for what's possible versus what's practical.
The Bigger Picture
The speakers at the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group meetings weren't just excited about the technology; they were excited about the democratization of creation. We're witnessing the early days of a fundamental shift in who can build software and how it gets built.
Traditional developers aren't going away; they're evolving into "AI conductors" who orchestrate multiple AI assistants for complex projects. Meanwhile, millions of non-technical professionals are gaining the ability to solve their own technical problems without waiting for IT departments or hiring expensive consultants. The quality gap between vibecoded and traditionally coded applications continues to narrow as AI models improve.
Closing Thoughts
Vibe coding isn't just about building apps; it's about empowering the individual, along with the moment when you realize you can actually create the tool you've been wishing already existed. It's about solving your own problems without waiting for someone else to understand and prioritize them.
Yes, there are limitations. You may need a professional developer to take your creation to market. But the ability to prototype, to experiment, to learn by doing… that is available to you right now, today, for free, or close to it.
The question isn't whether you can build an app. You can. The question is: What problem have you been wanting to solve?
I will continue to follow vibe coding as it evolves, providing updates as new tools emerge, best practices develop, and the technology matures. I hope you'll find this column an ongoing resource for helping to understand this rapidly changing landscape. As more people share their experiences and the tools become more sophisticated, there will be plenty to explore and discuss.
I'm excited to continue exploring AI's impact on how we work and create. In future articles in this AI 101 series, we will dive into another fundamental concept that's reshaping the modern workplace. Until then, why not spend 30 minutes trying out one of those vibe coding platforms? You might surprise yourself with what you can build.
After all, if you can describe it, you can build it.
