๐ฅ Vibe coding for engineers | Antony Kelly
Originally published on LinkedIn
๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ Engineers and architects can actually get the most value from vibe coding.
The problem is we keep treating vibe coding as one thing and focusing on quality from non technical vibe coding.
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐:
๐ข ๐๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐ป๐ผ๐ป-๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น) Pure ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐.
โUsers should be able to upload photosโ โShow customers their past ordersโ
No endpoints. No architecture. Just what the product should do.
Powerful โ risky if unreviewed.
๐ก ๐๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐) Feature intent ๐ฝ๐น๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
โAdd bulk upload, validate early, handle partial failure, keep it testable.โ
This is building features ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐น๐, not just quickly โ functional requirements with non-functional constraints baked in.
๐ต ๐ก๐ผ๐ป-๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ) This is about ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ, not features.
โThin controllers, clear service boundaries, repository pattern, mockable services, unit-tested business logic.โ
I state intent, the model proposes changes I review and iterate until it matches expectations.
Refactoring is a great use of this but with no complex planning that normally unwinds anyway..
โ ๏ธ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด. Itโs ๐จ๐ป๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ and output.
๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: Vibe coding is ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐-๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
Non-technical people express what. Engineers express what + constraints. Architects express quality and shape.
The better you are at expressing intent, the more powerful it becomes.
The best AI first engineer, is one that understands the business domain and goals of functionality and features, what good code looks like, and the architectural knowledge to choose the right approach that gives long time viability to the code.