The Future of Software: A World Where Everyone Builds
Vibe Coding: Part Two
Read Part One here.
From the earliest days of computing, developers have sought easier, more natural ways to create software without losing the power of low-level programming—a pursuit that evolved into no-code and low-code, dating back to 4GLs and RAD tools of the 1960s–90s, formalized with Forrester’s 2014 'low-code' term, and accelerated by startups like Bubble and Webflow in the 2010s. Vibe Coding builds on this legacy by reimagining software creation as a fluid, creative, and collaborative experience powered by natural language, AI, and an agentic engine that goes beyond code generation to debugging, modifying codebases, retrieving resources, and even creating images. For Lovable, this makes app and website development intuitive and playful, turning software building into a cultural movement with viral 'vibe' appeal, driven by community, creativity, and founder-led storytelling since its 2024 rebrand from GPT Engineer.
The Market Tracker: A Lovable App Built in <10 minutes
Right below is the “Market Tracker” app I created in Lovable—an elegant, all-in-one dashboard that brings together the performance of leading cryptocurrencies and the Magnificent 7 stocks in one seamless view. It’s amazing to see it all come alive in just minutes! Doing this in Excel or a dashboard tool like Tableau would easily take an hour or more—assuming you even had the data and data connections prepared in advance.
Users can view one-year price history charts alongside real-time asset cards displaying price, daily changes, market cap, and trading volume. With its clean dark theme and intuitive design, the app makes it easy to track volatility in crypto and steady growth in tech stocks side by side.
Lovable based this Market Tracker on my prompt, as follows:
Create a web app that compares the market price of specific cryto assets -- Bitcoin, Solana, and ETH -- to the market price of Mag 7 stocks -- META, MSFT, Nvidea. Include the ability to edit (add and subtract) cryto assets and stocks. Provide a graph with each one tracked and use one year of data.
It took less than ten minutes to write the prompt, generate the product dashboard, and create the underlying code.
From there, Lovable encourages me to “Refine & Customize” by tweaking the design, animations, and layouts—whether through prompts or direct visual edits.
In sum: Absolutely incredible!
Perspective
For decades, software was the domain of specialists. Engineers wrote in precise syntax, while everyone else consumed the results. But a new era is dawning—one where the act of building software feels less like coding and more like creating.
Vibe Coding: Flow Over Syntax
Vibe coding flips the old model on its head. Instead of rigid commands, builders describe what they want in natural language, adjust on the fly, and co-create with an AI partner. It’s less like typing logic into a machine and more like jamming with a band—where energy, iteration, and flow matter as much as the final product.
Beyond No-Code: Infinite Creativity
No-code and low-code tools democratized software creation, but they’ve always lived within the limits of templates and prebuilt logic. Vibe coding transcends those limits. By combining the accessibility of no-code with the expressive freedom of code itself—powered by AI that can debug, adapt, and invent—creation becomes boundless.
Engineers as Architects
In this new landscape, engineers don’t disappear. They evolve. Instead of spending their days on syntax, they’ll focus on designing resilient systems, embedding ethical guardrails, and scaling solutions. Their craft matters more than ever—but with AI as collaborator, their canvas expands to challenges once unimaginable.
Users as Co-Creators
The most radical shift may be for end users. Tomorrow’s software won’t be a static app delivered from on high. It will be a living tool, adaptable in real time. Users will mold their workflows, extend their apps, and shape their digital world—without waiting for developers. The line between “builder” and “user” blurs.
A World Where Everyone Builds
The future of software is a continuum: playful environments that invite anyone to explore, powerful frameworks that ensure scale, and a hybrid middle ground where AI carries most of the weight while humans provide vision and judgment.
The promise is extraordinary: a world where creating software is as natural as speaking, as joyful as play, and as universal as imagination itself.
Our next "Lessons" installment drops on Wednesday: "From IP to Operators and AI: The New Startup Playbook." Be sure to check it out!
Super inspiring! The future of code is not numbers, but words. We are going to see people building things online from backgrounds that we never previously would have expected.