🧑💻 AI for Coding: A Checklist for Programmers and Newcomers
AI already creates around 30% of all code at Microsoft and Google. Usually, AI tools simply help programmers: they complete code and fix errors. But there's also a more radical approach—vibe coding.
The term was coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy: the user forgets the code even exists, and AI writes the code and fixes bugs itself. Anyone can do this.
⁉️ So, what can you actually create with AI?
Theoretically, almost anything. While building a simple website or app is straightforward, more complex ideas demand greater skills and a deeper involvement in the technology.
⁉️ What do I need to get started?
First of all — desire. Next, will be useful:
✂️ Terminology and the basics of product management.
✂️ English. Models respond worse in different languages.
✂️ Basic programming and software design skills.
⁉️ How to start?
You can try any of the tools—they all have a trial period. After trying several options, you'll understand which meets your needs.
⁉️ If you are NOT a programmer and want to create:
📰 A personal website: instead of coding, use ready-made builders: Tilda, Wix, WordPress, Webflow.
📱 A mobile app: try Replit or Rork.
🌎 A simple web service: try Lovable, v0, Replit, Bolt.New.
⁉️ If you are a programmer and:
⚙️ Want to increase productivity: try Cursor ($20/month), IDE has autocomplete cand fully agentic mode. Alternatives: Windsurf ($15), GitHub CoPilot ($10), Trae (free).
🖤 Don't want to change your IDE: try plugins: Continue, GitHub Copilot, Junie.
👩💻 Love the CLI and are ready to pay for tokens: try Codex or Claude Code.
🔒 Privacy first: try a local setup with MetaGPT + Ollama (with Gemini3-27B or QwQ2.5). Free but requires powerful hardware.
❕ About the author: Max is the Vice President of AI Product Development at a major European bank. If you’re interested in learning how to effectively use vibe-coding tools and whether you can build your own startup with them, follow Max on X.
More on the topic:
💻 ThePrimeagen: When is AI in coding helpful?
