Comment by citbl
7 days ago
I feel using the word 'vibe' is inherently giving it a negative connotation which goes against the idea presented here.
The reality is the tools are really useful when used as tools, like a power drill vs. a screw driver.
Vibing implies backseat driving which isn't what using the tools proficiently is like. The better term would be 'assisted' or 'offloaded'.
Same thing with the term 'engineering'. That's a fairly new term that implies being engineers which we are not. We haven't studied to be engineers, nor have real engineering degrees. We've called ourselves that because we were doing much more than the original job of programmer and felt like we deserved a raise.
'LLM extended programming' is not as catchy but more relevant to what I observe people doing. It's valuable, it saves time and allows us to learn quicker, very powerful if used properly. Calling it 'vibe engineering' is a risky proposition as it may just make people's eyes roll and restrict us to a lesser understanding.
If you're paid to use science and math to create things that didn't exist before, then guess what: you're an engineer.
Just don't capitalize it in Oregon.
Speak for yourself, I'm paid to use ReactdotJayEss not science and math.
> That's a fairly new term that implies being engineers which we are not. We haven't studied to be engineers, nor have real engineering degrees. We've called ourselves that because we were doing much more than the original job of programmer and felt like we deserved a raise.
Uh, speak for yourself. There are countries where being a software engineer does indeed imply that you studied engineering and hold a "real" engineering degree.
Also, Hillel Wayne's "Are We Really Engineers" is worth reading:
https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/are-we-really-engineers/
I agree with both of you. Some coding is part of a real engineering process. That's why I don't like using "engineering" to refer to coding broadly - because it loses that specificity and connotation.
As "coders" or "programmers", some of us should answer the question "are you an engineer?" with a proud "of course not!" (That's me.) And some of us should answer, equally proudly, "of course I am!"
Hillel Wayne's series is great.
Same, I feel like the word vibe paints a picture of some dude ripping a bong while pressing enter.
If you can’t do it while you’re also singing a karaoke song, then you’re not vibing.
I have fairly decent engineering credentials, but when the task fits, I prefer to vibe code.
I don’t think that’s far off. There was an article awhile ago saying “you need to let go of looking at every line in a PR”.