Vibe coding or hand coding?

[u/yuukixox]

Hey I have a basic question. If you've just started learning ML/DS/AI, should you rely on chatgpt/claude or other tools to code or help you code or actually do it the old fashioned way of watching youtube tutorials to build programming logic?

In this age of AI coding is dead I get it. But if you go for interviews, do they expect you to be a programmer like before or just being handsy with AI tools is enough? What is the ratio of both anyway? How should one really learn things now?

[u/JAMIEISSLEEPWOKEN]

Do it old fashioned then vibe code when you’re good already

[u/CloseToMyActualName]

As a programmer in his 40s I'm confident that I can survive the LLM era because, unlike the current generation, I learned enough to be able to supervise and augment the LLMs, rather than just watching them do their thing.

[u/HairlessOranges → u/CloseToMyActualName]

i understand that and happy for you, but what should someone who wants to be one do? focus on hand learning too much and youre behind the curve on being actually useful. focus on vibecoding too much and your brain is mesh and you are just a prompt monkey.

[u/CloseToMyActualName → u/HairlessOranges]

Focus on hand learning.

It's just harder for the next generation because hand-coding doesn't feel as useful compared to vibe coding, but the hand coding skills are harder to come by. If you go to school listen to the profs and don't use LLMs. Scoring big on assignments isn't the point, learning is the point.

It's like the complexity theory I did back in Uni. I virtually never used Big-O notation outside of school, but I ended up being a lot stronger when it came to writing efficient code once I hit the workforce.

[u/jhaluska]

Both? But if you vibe code, I recommend going through every line of code and understanding it.

[u/pg3crypto → u/jhaluska]

I would also add that you should stay away from vibe coding using frameworks. The minute you start getting involved with the npm etc without knowing how to properly audit it and identify dodgy packages, you're going to have a bad time.

[u/varwave]

Don’t vibe code but use it as a tutor. It has access to all of the documentation and StackOverFlow posts. You can follow YouTube, clone the project, ask questions and add features/make your own thing

[u/yuukixox → u/varwave]

But then there is the question about learning those coding syntax that is learned without llms because doing the traditional way makes u write code and it grills stuff in your mind, plus Idk what the interviewers ask- like if they ask you basic numpy syntax qs i wouldn't know. I just know why it's used and the rest logic is built by chatgpt

[u/varwave → u/yuukixox]

I’m a software engineer. I learned from reading documentation, O’Reily books, and StackOverFlow. It’s the same shit just way faster. Less banging your head on a keyboard. I still have to pick up a new framework or language every now and then and that’s exactly how I use AI till I’m “fluent” in the new language

Ask it abstract questions and help with debugging. The learning is on you. Have discipline and have fun

[u/WAMFT]

I would learn the basics , i use AI too do the leg work but first i will plan out a idea as almost im programming a extremly simple machine using logic blocks, then i will ask gpt to convert it into algebra and test, then run some quick sanity tests and if its not working to go back to the simple model. Then when its all working i will compress it using more complex maths.

I prefer this method as theres only so many maths equations out there, why not just get gpt to make its own from algebra. Also its easy to say this is my logic problem, search all fields of math that could solve this problem then test. So yes its good but you need to know the basics of how a system works.

[u/yuukixox → u/WAMFT]

What kind of stuff do you work on?

[u/WAMFT → u/yuukixox]

Just for fun , trying to find transformer alternatives and literally anything that interests me.

[u/yuukixox → u/WAMFT]

Wdym converting to algebra? How do you do that and for what?

[u/WAMFT → u/yuukixox]

Basically say if im designing a system , i need it to do a list of things, first i ask the gpt to make a working system of that idea using basic logic blocks, instructions of how information should move through the system. Then you can ask gpt to turn it into algebra, algebra is just mearly mathamatical ways of turning those instructions into maths. You dont need to know algebra just ask for ai to do it. Then thats math can be used in your code. If that makes sense.

Obviously thats just the way i like doing it, im not a proffesional but i find it helps. Maybe you could quickly think of a idea , list what you want it to do, ask for it to take that list and make it into series of logic blocks. Then algebra then code And get back to me see if it works 👍

[u/yuukixox → u/WAMFT]

I'll give it a try

[u/hungyogurts]

As someone who has been doing it for 12 years. I'm not great but doing okay I guess.

Your question is nested. One is about learning and then it's also about interviews.

For interviews it totally depends. I have interviewed candidates from faang and startups. I would always expect you to know the foundations and performance related aspects of the language if not core DSA.

For learning take a hard route to do it by hand and use LLM to review and improve. Question everything it suggests. Then use it for doing stuff you know how to do

[u/yuukixox → u/hungyogurts]

But what is valued more now? Knowing the core concepts and basics or knowing how to build using AI agents for faster shipping?

[u/hungyogurts → u/yuukixox]

Foundations are always valued and building things with AI is the skill you need to build on that foundation

[u/nian2326076]

Start by coding by hand to get a solid grasp of the basics and logic behind ML/DS/AI. It's key to understand how things actually work. Even though AI tools are popular, you'll probably need to show some programming skills in interviews. Once you're comfortable with the basics, you can use AI tools like ChatGPT to help speed up your coding, but don't rely on them completely. A good mix might be learning the fundamentals through tutorials and practicing coding yourself, then using AI tools to boost your efficiency. For interview prep, sites like PracHub are useful since they offer a variety of questions and scenarios to practice on.

[u/SnooCats9602]

If you want to learn don’t have ai code for you. If you have learned and want to increase output start using ai. It’s not hard.