

⚡ Intro to Vibe Coding: From Idea to App
Vibe coding is a new way of building software that uses AI to turn natural language prompts into real, functional code — no traditional coding experience required. It's fast, intuitive, and opens up app development to anyone with a big idea and a willingness to experiment.
Coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy in early 2025, vibe coding shifts your role from line-by-line coding to guiding an AI assistant to build, refine, and debug your app — all through a more conversational, goal-focused workflow. You focus on the vision; the AI writes the code.
It’s creative, dynamic, and already powering some of the most exciting projects at today’s hackathons.
If you’ve heard the term but aren’t quite sure what it means, or where to even begin — this session is for you.
Join HTN member Travis Johnson for a fun, beginner-friendly, and interactive hour that will get you up to speed with vibe coding. We’ll cover:
What is vibe coding, really?
🧰 Tools & platforms to try (even if you're brand new)
🛠️ How to get started and experiment
🔥 Tips to bring better vibes to your hackathon projects, and how to troubleshoot if you get stuck
No prior experience needed. Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to participate! Walk away with a solid foundation — just in time for HTN’s fall hackathon, coming at the end of October.