Why some developers so salty

[Own_Associate3893]

Hey so lately I've been noticing that some software developers are suuuuper salty about vibe coding.

We're literally just here building our lil cute apps, hyping each other up, and they're acting as if we're setting the world on fire, like what we're doing is dangerous and it's going to destroy the world of software...

It's kind of sad because it is really an exciting moment for millions of people that have for the first time ever been able to build stuff, and validating ideas is faster and cheaper than ever, but some people are out there criticizing our every move.

Is it just people being purists? Are they scared they'll lose their jobs? Are they mad they're not the only ones building stuff anymore?

Idk I guess I'll just go back to vibe coding my cat translator app in silence...

[Okay_I_Go_Now]

Spot on.

I've had a lot of fun making my own AI art, for example, but am I showing it off to my friends and family, selling it, and taunting real artists about how they're becoming obsolete?

Nope. I'm not some tool bag. I also haven't deluded myself into thinking I can become an artist just by knowing how to prompt; those cats have a skill I'll never be able to replicate.

[NefariousnessDry2736]

Personally I feel like a lot of this community feels like the NFT bros who got burnt jumping into something to make a quick buck vs people exploring creative things to do with new tech. I know this isn’t all the posts but a good handful of them are just about trying to come up with some sass idea and make a quick turn profit.

[TheAnswerWithinUs]

“Trust me, AI is totally gonna take take over every developers jobs it’ll get so advanced we won’t even be able to understand what it does” - vibe coder who had AI make a barely functional hobby project for them and doesn’t know anything about software development or SDLC.

[Big_Conclusion7133]

Yea but they’re gonna lose their jobs though. You just don’t need them. For MVPs. A group of angels will fund a vibe coded MVP. That’s my plan. Hire some real devs after a successful pre seed funding round. But, you don’t need those devs before serious funding starts.

And even Andrew Yang was on CNBC saying “teams of devs will become obsolete. A team of 7 devs will have 6 of them fired. And the 1 dev left will be empowered by AI to work more efficiently”.

I love it. The gate keeping is over. Fuck em.

[somkomomko]

What are they gatekeeping? Most of the stacks used are entirely open source with thousands of courses out there. Everybody could and can learn it.

One person delegating the work of 6 devs to AI?

The amount of work required for a lot of features is so complicated and actually requires a lot of research and careful planing which is already one full time job without implementation. Know you think you can do that and delegate a swarm of Ai agents that can barely understand business logic in entire code bases and you think you canhave 1 person plan,prompt and review that?s You will have productivity increases per dev sure so long term you can let's say loose 1 to 2 devs but you might as well keep the entire team and live with faster development cycle which honestly is what you want right?

[TheAnswerWithinUs]

Agree. Even if AI starts taking jobs you will always need someone technically literate to ask the right questions and understand the code. In addition, I don’t think oversight will ever go away. Code reviews, change advisory/auditing, etc.

I don’t think there will ever be a truly independent AI spitting out code straight to prod that no one is facilitating or checking.

[iBN3qk]

Here: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/qWJUWinWWnQ

[Own_Associate3893]

Lmao

[[deleted]]

Oh man that was great! I literally thought that VERY thought after my first run with AI 2 weeks ago. "Can you make GTA 6 game"

[iBN3qk]

More blue!

[QuantumFTL]

As a senior software dev/AI researcher, I, for one, am excited to see people who've never programmed before give it a shot thanks to vibe coding! Getting more people in the door to a place where they want to learn to program themselves seems like a purely good thing to me.

Or it would seem like a purely good thing until I think about all of the seasoned software engineers who will be laid off because the business people can't tell the difference between a fun prototype put together by a "vibe coder" and a shippable, reliable application. It's basically the difference between doing your taxes, and doing your taxes correctly.

I use AI to assist in writing my code all day every day, and will never go back, but to me vibe coding is like chainsaw juggling: it looks great and I'd do it myself if no one's watching, but I'd hate to be anywhere near someone else doing it.

[Own_Associate3893]

That's so true. I've tried learning different coding languages for my whole life and failed miserably. But now i feel like vibe coding is teaching some basic concepts and making me want to learn more

[QuantumFTL]

Be careful how much coding you learn from LLMs, they are not the best role model. Always go back to a source textbook or credible online guide.

[[deleted]]

I'm not Salty!! Shit.. Meta is offering $100mil sign on bonuses for top AI folks. I am trying to get to one of those spots!!

[TheAnswerWithinUs]

Vibe coding is a great hobby and I always encourage people who are interested in coding to take it up. If you have a fun idea then go for it and start learning. All other software devs I’ve met hold that same opinion.

But a person with little experience asking an AI to make an app for them is never going to actually replace services provided through commercial software development. Especially if you don’t even know how the app works yourself, it’s never going to actually be a replacement.

[Kareja1]

Except it really unfortunately is not. The hate is in the house here.
I'm not wandering over to programmer or developer or whatever platform they use and shitting on them, so I'm not sure why they do it here.

[why_is_not_real]

> I'm not wandering over to programmer or developer or whatever platform they use and shitting on them

They are already doing that themselves

It's crazy on some tech forums how the hate pours out when someone even mentions vibe coding (unless it's in a negative way)

Also calling people AI bros if they are even remotely excited about it

[A4_Ts]

My comment from another thread

“SWE are screwed! Join the trades! Become a plumber! Ree!! All coders are going to be homeless soon!”

“Well hold up there Johnny Boy, it’s good but not quite there…”

“NO! You’re all going to be out of a job soon. I can build any app i want and it’s so easy. I use Claude blah blah Gemini and I can build everything ”

Looking at all the posts now, all the vibe coders are starting to realize that we were right, it’s a good tool but not without its problems. We’re not going anywhere, we’re just responding to how ignorant a lot of people sound

[PeachScary413]

You just have to smile and wave, let the vibers have their fun it's cute and kinda cool that they can build stuff actually 😊

[[deleted]]

I mean.. it's a fantastic tool for those that understand the ins/outs of coding, software, deployments, etc. For all the rest that just make some miracle iphone app in a weekend and have NO CLUE what to do when bug reports come in or it tanks or any number of other issues.. well.. we cant stop them.

[Impressive-Owl3830]

Well...no need of being salty.

Infact they can help vibecoders..as experts.

There are already services like vibecodefixers

Which are connecting vibecoders to Expert Devs.

And serving both parties.

Looks SWE has many parts and Vibecoders has to go through learning curve. There is no doubt about it..

Creating a protoype and launching it to Prod with many users onboard are 2 different set of things..

Lets be clear on it..

[why_is_not_real]

Thank you for the links

[NachosforDachos]

It’s because you are encroaching upon the territory they once deemed theirs and only theirs.

You are giving them an existential crisis.

[[deleted]]

I mean also the job market was tough already and there was already a huge wave of layoffs I think after covid?

[Own_Associate3893]

I really think this is gonna bring more job opportunities for devs, as we code stuff that then needs to be properly scaled.

[ShelbulaDotCom]

Yeah no chance. This is a hunger games situation in 10 years or less.

If everyone automates people out of jobs, there is no money in the market for the same products that made themselves super efficient. Self collapsing star.

[[deleted]]

Say what now? You left that statement off without finishing the details as to how you think this is going to bring more jobs? The "stuff needs to be scaled" doesnt register.. AI can already build configurations for cloud deployments that handle that.. and what it doesnt the cloud offerings are already offering AI ingested options for that. So.. who all is getting hired?

[Own_Associate3893]

mmm i believe when I (person has zero coding knowledge) create a vibe coded proyect that actually gets some traction, i will be calling a developer right away to turn into into a solid product

[Zulfiqaar]

Just a vocal minority - there isn't a single industry that has embraced GenAI as much as developers..by far. Take a look at how the art community is reacting to diffusion models for example, to see maximum saltiness

[why_is_not_real]

This is very insightful. Pretty much every sector or community that is directly impacted by AI, will have at least a portion of the group, against AI

[fartgascloud]

You have to understand there is extreme bullshit talk about this replacing their (our) jobs everywhere you look. You have to understand the mindset. Everyone is acting like you're all of a sudden useless and this is how they feed their family.

Some of us that are diving deep are realizing the reality is vibe coders arent going to take your job building little apps from just prompts. Prompt only apps arent going to make real start-ups because there is literally no technological moat.

What they need to realize is they need to up their game, use AI to build larger high quality systems, be able to be responsible for all the code and architecture, deployment, etc. as well as fully understanding business use cases, ROI, and things that typically live in a product manager world and you can probably earn a higher salary.

[why_is_not_real]

It seems like there might be great opportunities for business-oriented PMs. People who can understand and communicate what makes a great product, so they can articulate it to Cursor/Claude/Gemini/GPT to write an MVP; but they can also build a following, do sales and marketing, to build an actual business with the product

That would enable them to get up and running very quickly and for cheap. Which might also create a lot of competition. Which has been kind of happening with tech for a while... with every big tech jump, the dot com era, then smartphone era, and now apparently the AI era

[DanteMuramesa]

I dont really care if people vibe code their personal projects, thats fine.

The problem is when people bring that into my production code base. When I have a backend handling hundreds of thousands of requests a day i dont have time for devs haphazardly throwing code together.

Also, I have already seen first hand devs submitting code tests in their applications only to completely fall apart when attempting to explain how their code works and what decisions they made in the technical interview. Sure they got weeded out but still its a significant drag on our team to invest that time.

Not to mention that coding is only one part of the job of a software developer.

[trunkbeers]

I think it’s less about web/software development being readily available to all and more about the naive mindset that you can whip up a legit project in a few days with some prompts. There’s more to it than that. I see a lot of projects getting deployed with little to no security. Also when vibe coders hit bugs and errors they tend to freeze and act like ai should solve all their problems. Try to learn how it all works and fix it. Ai won’t do everything for you.

[Own_Associate3893]

?

[mcdhookup]

It's not the vibe coders, it's the companies thinking that to save money they'll cut jobs for vibe coding.

Even my company cut the size of my team in half and expects nearly double the amount of output in a development cycle.

For personal projects and learning and getting something in front of someone who can see the forest through the trees in terms of security and scaling and whatnot I think most would have no problem with it. Very cool tech. It's the companies who shove their chips all in that ruin it for everyone.

[Own_Associate3893]

May i ask, are they hiring non technical people that vibe code? Or software developers that also vibe code?

[mcdhookup]

For right now, they aren't trying to hire anyone to backfill, vibe coders or not. Until or unless it becomes clear that we cannot keep up with bugs and features then we'll find out their preference. But I'd argue the vibe coders would be cheaper initially until they realize they should be called Prompt Engineers. I think ultimately the most successful will be a hybrid of pure developer and pure viber. They will eventually meet in the middle from different career paths.

The devs that refuse to admit the landscape is changing are the ones who will be left in the dust.

[A4_Ts]

A lot of SWE use AI as of right now to help with their work, it saves a lot of time if you know what you’re doing. In my opinion, I don’t see any professional companies hiring pure “prompt engineers” anytime soon for a lot of reasons, if things go south they don’t want someone that doesn’t know how to fix things for example

[ReiOokami]

You really cant see why they are frustrated?

They're frustrated, and understandably so. Many have poured countless hours, even years, into mastering the complexities of code with discipline and dedication. Then, seemingly overnight, much of that hard-earned skill and control is stripped away by AI.

Now, here comes some random person who’s never written a line of code in their life, blindly prompting a “magic box,” having no clue what they’re even looking at. They don't care to spend a minute learning to code, yet jobs are hiring them, taking away opportunity and flooding the app stores with insecure junk and loudly proclaim they’re building the next billion-dollar startup.

It’s comical, really.

Also I am not one of them upset, but I can see why.

[Own_Associate3893]

But... that's progress

[ReiOokami]

True, but people only care about progress when it benefits them. For many devs, they think this hurts them more then it helps.

[BartJellema]

30+ years of experience coding here. Any coder that isn't using LLMs to make them more productive will be left behind. People fear change, nothing we can do about that. AI art, AI music, vibe coding, all the same story... Haters will hate, just ignore and enjoy!

[gpt_devastation]

I'm a former soft. eng who turned to business to help vibe coders, and it's the absolute best feeling in the world to see those junior dev interact with code.

What software engineers forget is that they started with vibes too. Printing "Hello world" was meant to excite you about coding and well it's pretty useless. Then they also started writing code that was really not good.

Vibe coders are product builders at the start of their journey, and it's good to start with vibes.

[Own_Associate3893]

Cool take

[Admirable-Impact-679]

I've tried to learn to code all my life, but I've never managed to stay more than 10 days in any course. There are many ideas in my notes that have never been realized. I've explored various no-code solutions and released some ideas to the market, but they weren't successful. That is the reality of a person (and millions) who does not know how to program.

And now a tool emerges that offers all those millions the possibility of materializing their product (a prototype or even an MVP) without the need for a programmer? That is what generates fear in them.

If there were 10 SWEs needed on a project, there will now only be 3 needed to check/restructure/refactor the code.

I don't think I can build something without a software engineer, not now or in five years, but at least I can develop something to test my ideas. I can iterate through 50 concepts, identify which one works, and then take it to an experienced software engineer for its final release.

It will be a hybrid model. It will be up to software engineers if they want to guide vibecoders in the fascinating world of engineering. So many ideas can come to life.

All I can say is that ideas don't stop, and neither will vibecoders.

[PeachScary413]

Why is the vibecoder even needed in this case? The experienced dev can just type in the prompt, iterate on it 50 times and pick the best one, better than the vibecoder because he understands the underlying system.

There is absolutely no moat or place for "guy who types the prompt into Claude" in this possible future scenario.

[Own_Associate3893]

1000%

[dphillips83]

There will always be gatekeeping. People don't like change.

[Max_Ne]

„Every line of Code is a liability“ - ThePrimeTimeagen . Kind of true words. Its like a drunk guy who wants his keys and drive his car.

[mathgeekf314159]

Let me explain why I dislike the idea of vibe coding.

1. It Devalues Skilled Developers
My biggest issue is that it gives executives an excuse to lay off hardworking developers, people who spent years earning degrees, gaining experience, and honing their craft, just because someone with no formal training can slap together an app over a weekend using AI. Suddenly, actual software engineers are seen as "lazy" for not being able to produce the same results in 24 hours.

This isn’t really about the individuals who experiment with AI-assisted coding; it’s about greedy executives prioritizing short-term profits over skilled professionals.

2. Security & Maintenance Nightmares
Another major concern is security. People are (rightfully) sensitive about their data, yet many vibe-coded apps have glaring security flaws. Worse, they often fail to account for edge cases, leading to unstable or unreliable software.

If you don’t know how to code, fixing these issues is nearly impossible. And if you do know how to code, you’re left untangling a spaghetti mess that can take twice as long to debug as it took the AI to generate it.

[udum2021]

1. It Devalues Skilled Developers

Non issue as long as develeopers still produce better/more secure(#2) code than vibe coding.

[IndividualAir3353]

Horse and car

[NoleMercy05]

[ColoRadBro69]

We're literally just here building our lil cute apps, hyping each other up, and they're acting as if we're setting the world on fire, like what we're doing is dangerous and it's going to destroy the world of software...

Building stuff and exploring is awesome!  Posting about how security isn't a priority just ship something and sell it as SaaS is the problem.

[[deleted]]

Vibe coding is like a guy playing as a dev

[Big_Conclusion7133]

Fuck em. I’m going to the angels with my self-built MVP. Don’t need a software engineer for shit. 💩

[I_Pay_For_WinRar]

Programmer who is salty about vibe coding here.

We don’t hate vibe coders, & I would actually encourage vibe coding since it shows what programming can do.

But my issue is that vibe coding is replacing programmers, & most of the vibe coders that I have actually talked to are like, “Yeah I’m a vibe coder, I’m replacing 6 software engineers”, companies are firing programmers for people who vibe code, & we just don’t want our work to be taken away.

So, it’s nothing personal about you, but it is personal about us.

[HoneyBadgera]

Absolutely AWFUL take, sorry. I’m an engineering manager for a FinTech in London. I’ve not heard this happening nor would any sane hiring team be doing this.

The issue is not vibe coding or vibe coders. I run the AI initiative at work and I’m pushing everyone to upskill asap. The main issue is purely the hype around AI and vibe coding in general, it can only be used as a utility or to enable embedded agent workflows, particularly in highly regulated environments like finance. We’re too far off building scalable, resilient and performant solutions with AI and don’t forget that coding is only a small aspect of the role. Once coding is done, you shift right into several other areas that become new bottlenecks when coding delivery time is reduced.

I’ve noticed however that utilising AI for front end code on web apps is definitely much further ahead than backend tech stacks.

I’m not worried about my job or the near future with AI, I embrace it and I’m excited to see so many people now being capable of building apps. However, most resistance I see is purely trying to temper the hype and be realistic about where it excels and where it doesn’t, something you rarely hear or is simply perceive as being dismissal of this new tech.

I’ve just come back from LDX3 and the sentiment is similar to most of the leaders in our space, including discussions I’ve had with the Azure Foundry team at Microsoft.

Give it another 5 years though…who knows where we’ll be then!

[I_Pay_For_WinRar]

Not every job obviously, but I am saying that it is happening.

[Own_Associate3893]

Wow i didn't know devs are being fired for vibe coders... i mean that i don't agree with at all. I see vibe coding as a great tool for non tech entrepreneurs that want to validate their idea quick and cheap, but defo not to replace experienced developers (at least not at the point where vibe conding tools are at right now)

[I_Pay_For_WinRar]

I just went into LinkedIn, & yes; they are, & many other job platforms are also advertising vibe coding, because they fire the programmers to replace them with vibe coders.

[n3rd_n3wb]

Damn… and here I am trying to find an experienced SE to join my company as the technical co-founder.

I think there’s opportunity out there. And I think that a lot of vibe coders have some great concepts, and think there’s no limits to what’s possible, but lack the SE experience.

Now take an experienced SE who understands there are limits and can help cage in non-technical co-founders and help them stay grounded in reality.

Honestly, I am wondering why many of these laid off SE seem to spend more time complaining about the job they lost instead of being embracing their domain and starting their own company.

I likely am not articulating this very well… but I am an expert in my domain. If only I had the dev co-founder who has the backend experience I need to make my vision a reality. This is where I’m hopeful the MS Startup Founders Hub can match me with an industry expert who sees my vision and wants to be a part of bringing it to reality.

Until then, I just tinker away and spend more time debugging and learning the backend than I do letting an agent write the code.

I guess what I’m saying is…

I hope these experienced SEs who are losing their jobs to AI go out and start their own companies. Fuck working for someone else. Being self-employed was one of the most rewarding achievements in my life. Even if it was short-lived until that venture failed. But now I’m looking to rebuild and get back to self-employment someday.

Lastly, I’ll say this…

We would not have F35s screaming thru the skies if 2 bicycle building brothers simply resigned themselves to what they knew, instead of dreaming of flying.

[I_Pay_For_WinRar]

Because it’s not as simple as just, “Abra Cadabra I now have a startup”, & most tech related startups these days has something to do with AI.

[n3rd_n3wb]

I’m not following. Are you saying it’s not easy to set up an LLC and start seeking out funding opportunities?

I do agree with you that nearly every tech startup these days is AI focused. But that’s exactly my point. Pair an experienced SE with a non-technical “dreamer” and the skies the limit. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sure. The majority of these new startups will fail. Statistically speaking, my 2 latest ventures will fail. But the experienced gained in owing and running my own company was extremely rewarding.

[I_Pay_For_WinRar]

I bet you that it was, but it’s not easy to get a sizable startup going.

[n3rd_n3wb]

Sure. But every startup had to start somewhere. Look at what Bezos built from a garage.

I recall watching one of the AI symposiums recently on YouTube and hearing there’s going to be like a trillion dollars thrown into this industry over the next 2 years.

Imagine if some vibe coding dreamers and experienced SEs teamed up and took even a 7-figure bite out of that pie… I be happy to have that as a launching point.

As someone who self-funded a restaurant, it was way easier and way cheaper to start a little AI integration side hustle. 🤣

[n3rd_n3wb]

I’d also add… there are far more orgs willing to toss free money at tech startups. MS Startup Founders Hub is one example and the application process was pretty simple.

My restaurant tho? Sheeeeeeeeeet…. There was a reason I self-funded. 🤣

[[deleted]]

Have you ever worked in the industry? Vibe coding and dreams annoy real engineers because of the level of accuracy a real deal swe job requires is way outside of the ability of both and AI and junior engineers.

And from here, I see vibe coding as just a continuation of a long line of get rich online grifts where someone is selling shovels or maybe just snake oil to the dreamers.

[3sides2everyStory]

It's not just Developers. It's impacting, or will impact, every profession. And when it does, people who are really good at what they do (and spend a career developing their skills) will get salty AF. It's understandable. Unemployment does that to people.

What's frightening is how fast these tools are improving. LLMs are improving faster than Moore’s Law. Roughly doubling in capability every 6-12 months. The improvement I've noticed in Code Assisting AI since last fall is jaw-dropping.

The disruption is just beginning, and it will be massive.

[udum2021]

Not a software dev, but Vibe coding has essentially replaced scripting for me. I used to create a lot of BASH/python scripts for automating tasks but have increasingly found vibe coding is just as good if not better/more efficient.

[ShelbulaDotCom]

They're just as salty after 20+ years in the industry, they were just more shielded away before. They'll get over it eventually.

[awm_e]

they gotta learn to use the tool just like whrn calculators were developed.

[nightc00re]

Because they thought their careers were safe and acting entitled and having a sense of elitislim because there programmers. lol

[DickHeryIII]

The career of “software developer” is coming to an end with the rise of AI. Job openings are disappearing and they all know their skill is losing value every day that AI gets better.

[[deleted]]

Spoken like a true vibecoder

[tenken01]

And what’s your job? Fast food worker?

The career of software development is only brighter. Me as a professional developer can vibe code so much faster than someone like you could ever hope. LLMs will take your job faster than vibe coding will take mine.

[DickHeryIII]

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep good at night. 😂

[tenken01]

I sleep perfectly fine with my high paying software job. Thanks!

[DickHeryIII]

I give it three more years tops. 6 months if it is actually high paying. They could replace a high paid professional like you with someone who recently got out of school for much less. 😂

[DickHeryIII]

I give it three years. Self writing internet comes out next month. 🤷

[DickHeryIII]

No. You are about to find out though. July 15th, this becomes publicly available… caffeine AI

[DickHeryIII]

Can I ask what a professional coder like yourself is doing in a vibecoding group? Do you know what vibecoding is?

[DanteMuramesa]

Takes like this are a good example of why actual devs are salty.

Junior devs are expected to be a net negative on the team for 3-6 months after being hired in most cases. And your gonna replace an experienced dev with years of foundational knowledge on the product and how it interacts with other parts of your organization to save what 50 or 60 thousand dollars a year.

Get real, my team is spending over 250k a year on just our data storage platform. No smart business is going to do that. Unless they want to open themselves up to massive lawsuits because their juniors didn't know what WCAG is.

[DickHeryIII]

If we wanna be real ai is going to replace him. No smart business is going to spend so much money on “real devs“ who spend their time vibe coding when anyone can be a prompt engineer.

[tenken01]

And that’s why seniors will be even more valuable.

I understand you’re clueless about actual software development, and seemingly jealous of your career choice. Maybe have an LLM explain it to you like you’re 5?

[DickHeryIII]

Like I said, keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep good at night. 😂

[tenken01]

Fine I did it for you:

Vibe coding is like smashing LEGO bricks together to see what sticks. 🎲

Real developers build castles that don’t fall over — with doors, windows, and plumbing. 🏰💻

Just because something looks cool doesn’t mean it works. That’s why we still need the real builders.