Comment by visarga
10 hours ago
You should try Cursor or Windsurf, with Claude or Gemini model. Create a documentation file first. Generate tests for everything. The more the better. Then let it cycle 100 times until tests pass.
Normal programming is like walking, deliberate and sure. Vibe coding is like surfing, you can't control everything, just hit yes on auto. Trust the process, let it make mistakes and recover on its own.
Given that analogy, surely you could understand why someone would much rather walk than surf to their destination? Especially people who are experienced marathon runners.
If I tried standing up on the waves without a surfboard, and complain about how it's not working, would you blame the water or surfing for the issue, or the person trying to defy physics, complaining that it's not working? It doesn't matter how much I want to run or if I'm Kelvin Kiptum, I'm gonna have a bad time.
That only makes sense when surfing is the only way to get to the destination and that's not the case.
6 replies →
I find that writing a thorough design spec is really worth it. Also, asking for its reaction. "What's missing?" "Should I do X or Y" does good things for its thought process, like engaging a younger programmer in the process.
Definitely, I ask for a plan and then, even if it's obvious, I ask questions and discuss it. I also point it as samples of code that I like with instructions for what is good about it.
Once we have settled on a plan, I ask it to break it into phases that can be tested (I am not one for a unit testing) to lock in progress. Claude LOVES that. It organizes a new plan and, at the end of each phase tells me how to test (curl, command line, whatever is appropriate) and what I should see that represents success.
The most important thing I have figured out is that Claude is a collaborator, not a minion. I agree with visarga, it's much more like surfing that walking. Also, Trust... but Verify.
This is a great time to be a programmer.