Vibecoding 101
A 4-week scaffolded, hands-on introduction to vibecoding for beginners.
Vibecoding, or AI-assisted software development, is the practice of guiding coding agents to translate your ideas into working software - without writing code yourself.
We see vibecoding as 4 different product skills in a trench coat. While they may not write code, effective vibecoders mobilize concepts and workflows across software engineering, design, quality assurance, and product management.
This course is a scaffolded, hands-on introduction to the fundamental skills and concepts required for a sustainable vibecoding practice. Students will learn through a combination of short lectures, applied exercises, personalized feedback, and demos to peers.
We begin by working with coding agents in a multiplayer environment designed for beginners. We will create interactive frontends, learn the basics of the terminal, build integrations with APIs, and create stateful, full-stack applications with a database and user authentication.
By the end of the course, students will transition to state-of-the-art coding agents installed on their personal machines, which they will use to build and deploy a working prototype to the web.
Syllabus
Session 1: Coding agents and frontends
We introduce the course and core concepts of vibecoding. We introduce a basic taxonomy of web architecture. Students practice creating basic interactive frontends.
Session 2: CLIs, APIs, and the terminal
We cover core backend and data concepts. We gently introduce the terminal. Students practice writing simple CLI programs, and integrating with an API.
Session 3: Stateful full-stack applications
We cover databases and user authentication; students build a full stack app.
Session 4: Deployment and demos
The final session covers deployment. Students demo their prototypes for the class.
Learning Outcomes
Acquire core vocabulary and mental models for software development.
Prompt coding agents to create frontends, API integrations, and stateful applications.
Be able to translate your ideas into working prototypes using AI.
Practice presenting your product ideas to peers and colleagues.
Resources
“This new world of ours rewards being a dilettante with a vague mental map of vast territories.”
- Ted Underwood
“There is a new kind of coding I call ‘vibecoding,’ where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists. It’s possible because the LLMs (e.g. Cursor Composer w Sonnet) are getting too good… it’s not really coding - I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works.”
- Andrej Karpathy
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
- Anonymous
Scholarship
Index scholarships are designed to benefit members of our community who do not have expendable cash to pay for the course, and those for whom the class price is not accessible. These need-based scholarships will go to the candidates who best demonstrate why they should be chosen for the free spot to our class based on the following criteria:
Belong to groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the graphic design and creative industries
Do not have jobs that would pay for these courses as professional development
Cannot independently afford the class at list price
Share our value of intentional community
The number of selected applicants chosen is subject to the discretion of Index and the instructor, but every course will select at least one. Apply for a scholarship here. Applications close October 20th.
Instructor Bio
Bill Roberts is an independent technologist based in Brooklyn. Drawn to socially beneficial uses of technology, he has 10 years of software engineering experience on teams spanning healthcare, climate, politics, and education.
He runs Legible Labs, a product studio that helps clients design and build AI applications. As a research engineer, he has coauthored papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences that empirically evaluate the capabilities of AI in educational settings.
Bill holds a BA in Computer Science and Sociology from Columbia University.
Refunds
We get that things come up, but we rely on headcounts to make our programs viable. If you request a refund...
More than 4 weeks before the program begins → 100% refund
More than 2 weeks before the program begins → 50% refund
Fewer than 2 weeks before the program begins → No refund
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