As AI tools improve in understanding natural language, developers are adopting "vibe coding"—a new programming style where speaking replaces typing, and intent is more important than syntax. In 2023, Andrej Karpathy said English was the hottest new programming language. He shared his vision of the AI world and the use of natural language in programming when he coined the term "vibe coding" earlier this month. "There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding,' where you fully embrace the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists," he wrote in a post on X. "It's possible because the LLMs (e.g., Cursor Composer with Sonnet) are becoming very advanced. I just talk to Composer with SuperWhisper, so I hardly even touch the keyboard."
Karpathy, a co-founder of OpenAI, has now started a new AI and education company called Eureka Labs.
Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Omdia, identified Cline as a popular tool for using natural language to assist with coding, making it useful for vibe coding.
Indeed, some major players in the GenAI space enabling English for programming include Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, IBM, and AWS, among others, Shimmin noted. They are developing models with better tool use and structured outputs. Some key development platforms mentioned include GitHub Copilot with VS Code, Replit (an early adopter of AI integration), Aider, Cline, Cursor, and Zed.
Meanwhile, Nick Baumann, head of product marketing at Cline, told The New Stack that vibe coding is a high-level approach to coding using AI, where users describe requirements from an end-user perspective rather than technical specifications. “It uses natural language to communicate desired outcomes, such as ‘make the hero section more presentable,’” he said. “It allows AI to handle the technical implementation details.”
In a recent blog post, Baumann wrote: “Two days ago, Andrej Karpathy set Tech Twitter ablaze with a provocative idea he calls ‘vibe coding’ – where you ‘fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.’ Using AI tools (like Cline), he demonstrated building an entire LLM reader application in about an hour, barely touching the keyboard.”
Fundamental Shift
In his insightful post, Baumann explained everything and described vibe coding as another chapter in the evolution of programming.
“What makes ‘vibe coding’ fascinating is that it might be a fundamental shift in how we express intent to computers,” he wrote. “Instead of giving machines precise instructions, we’re moving toward describing what we want in natural language.”
At Cline, we see this as a historical pattern. Just as C didn’t eliminate assembly language but made it unnecessary for most tasks, AI won’t eliminate traditional coding but will change where we focus our cognitive effort,” he wrote.
Baumann notes that whether “vibe coding” becomes as fundamental as previous abstractions remains to be seen. “But one thing is clear: those who dismiss it entirely are like the assembly programmers of 1957, the systems programmers of 1973, and every other group that resisted a new abstraction layer that ultimately became standard,” he wrote.
What Is Cline?
Initially known as Claude Dev, due to its focus on Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5 LLM, Cline was renamed to reflect that it is an AI assistant that can use your CLI (command line interface) and Editor — CLINE.
Cline is a VS Code extension for AI-assisted coding. It enables chat conversations within VS Code and can read, write, and edit files in the codebase. It also actively seeks context by examining the codebase and asking questions.
Cline is a free extension but uses a "bring your own API key" model. It works with various AI models, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet and some DeepSeek models, as a more affordable option.
It is popular for "vibe coding," where developers describe desired outcomes in natural language. The tool is designed to feel like "having someone right next to you who’s like a brilliant engineer" and can handle various levels of detail, from vague requirements to specific technical details.
Types of Vibe Coders
In an interview with The New Stack, Baumann mentioned two main categories of vibe coders: newcomers to coding who wouldn't code without AI assistance and experienced engineers using AI to boost their productivity.
"People who are vibe coding are those using AI to code or are new to coding. These are people who, without AI, would not code at all. Then there are those who are very experienced engineers who don't need AI but have found they can enhance their coding skills 10x or 100x," he said.
A New Era of Coding
The role of developers writing code will gradually decline over the next five years and may disappear entirely in 15 years, according to a 2023 Constellation Research report by analyst Holger Mueller.
"More importantly, this change will free developers from needing to master coding, as the main input will be voice rather than a keyboard. Voice is faster and more efficient than typing, but the key innovation is that software will write software," the report stated.
This shift would significantly increase the number of people who can create applications, he noted.
"Effectively, moving from keyboard to voice and from code to natural language means more software can be built, and more business users can take control of their automation," the report explained.
In an interview, Mueller told The New Stack that he created apps using Microsoft’s Power Platform and ChatGPT by speaking and typing. Essentially, he was vibe coding.