Vibe Coding vs Traditional Coding: Speed Now or Precision Later?

Question

Which approach is better: vibe coding—where you rapidly write code in 20 minutes based on intuition and flow, then spend hours debugging—or traditional coding, where you take a more deliberate, structured approach upfront to minimize errors and reduce the need for extensive debugging later?

Harshit Pandey · Answer

Both approaches—vibe coding and traditional structured coding—have their place, and the "better" one often depends on context. Vibe coding can be great during the early stages of a project, rapid prototyping, or when you're exploring new ideas. It allows for creativity and flow, and sometimes that momentum helps solve problems you wouldn't have approached in a rigid mindset. However, it often leads to messy code that requires significant debugging and refactoring. Traditional coding , where you plan, design, and write code more deliberately, shines in production-level work, team collaboration, and long-term maintenance. It reduces bugs early, leads to cleaner architecture, and scales better as the project grows. My personal view : I prefer a hybrid . I sometimes use vibe coding to spike out ideas or get into flow, but I follow up with structured practices like writing tests, refactoring, and documentation. It’s about balancing creativity with discipline—writing fast when it makes sense, but being methodical when quality matters.

Vibe Coding vs Traditional Coding: Speed Now or Precision Later?

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