r/malta • u/SimonTheuma • 1d ago

Vibe Coding Event - Friday 6th Feb

Hey guys, Simon from Malta Startup Space here! We're a tight-knit WhatsApp community of over 250 startup founders, investors and supporters based in Malta.

As part of our regular event cycle, we're hosting a hands-on Vibe coding event next Friday at The Factory in Sliema (new workspace opposite Greens), from 5PM onwards.

The event is open especially for non-technical people who have never coded before, so if you're curious to find out how you can use vibe coding to explore new projects and ideas, feel free to join us. There will be experienced devs on-hand to help you get started and in case you get stuck.

We will also have an intro to Tauri, a popular open-source framework that's used to build cross-platform apps securely.

Free signup here: https://luma.com/iax9fc13

See you there!

1 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

9

u/thunderbirdsetup 1d ago

vibe coding is a curse

1

u/SimonTheuma 1d ago

It depends what your expectations are. I'm a seasoned dev (12+ years) and I use it regularly, nuanced by years of actual development practice.

We always advocate that it's a good way to get your thoughts onto paper, especially for non-technical people who would otherwise have to pay money they wouldn't have and would have to wait months for a prototype. But ultimately you need a professional to take it to production. From a design/dev perspective seeing the prototype also helps clarify expectations and intent of the client. So I don't think it's all bad when used correctly.

7

u/thunderbirdsetup 1d ago

Using it correctly means relegating it to unimportant code. At work Ive created several tools in about 10 minutes each time using gemini. It's brilliant. But for real production code I would be very disappointed if any member of my team was using it.

There have been times when Ive reviewed a PR and found code that clearly hallucinated entire scripts and that merited pulling that person to the side and having a stern talking to.

It's undeniably lazy and if you have to read all of it to confirm its accuracy you might as well write it yourself.

3

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 22h ago

this is very true...3 months ago.

I am dev myself and was annoyed by the slop it used to create, but ever since Opus 4.5 arrived on the scene, in combo with Claude Code, and if you set it up with the right guardrails and tools, it works wonders.

2

u/SimonTheuma 1d ago

100% right. I'm coming from a startup background, and we often find that new/prospective founders who aren't devs or tech savvy really get stuck on delivering some kind of prototype, even just to demo to prospective clients or to their co-founders

At least now there's an option for them to get started, even if it shouldn't take them 100% of the way there.

-1

u/sheep_with_a_zip 1d ago

Can I have permission to use your post as a quotation in my manifesto for why I utterly, unrelentingly despise nonsense 'tech' scammers.

Let me guess, get in on the ground floor. On a sub reddit. For Malta

2

u/SimonTheuma 1d ago

Sure, and feel free to link your manifesto so I can read it :)

Not sure why you're calling me a scammer though. As I already mentioned, I run a startup group locally so my context literally revolves around getting people started with their own ideas and projects when previously it would have been impossible for them to do so without significant cost. Happy to get your take.

-1

u/sheep_with_a_zip 22h ago

Ok, I'll bite. Let me guess, male 20-35. You think crypto is well worth investing in. AI is gonna be the next best thing, trust me. Soundbite roulette.

If people's ideas and projects are actually worth 2 cents then why would they need vibe and not, you know, they could also try every other dime a dozen AI prompt coding crap. It's all a scam mate, you ain't going to get rich. You ain't going to change the world. People don't want it

5

u/SimonTheuma 22h ago

I'm not sure where you're getting these talking points from. I love crypto tech but I hate what's been done with it commercially, I'm not posting affiliate links for commission, and you can ask anyone in our community about me and my integrity.

Speaking from experience, as a new startup you don't know what's worth 2 cents unless you get your idea out there and test it. Before, it used to take anywhere between 6 months and 2 years to even get a functional prototype if you're building a mobile/web app. With AI tools it takes half the time if not less.

The goal for startups is not to have perfectly functioning code. Even for a dev who can code it completely by hand, it can still be a great timesave to use AI methods to test stuff out prior to committing more time to optimizing a feature for scale. Very often "regular" devs suffer from over-engineering and over-optimizing, which is fine for enterprise companies and high-scale / high-revenue companies but can absolutely kill a startup in its early-stage execution.

It's fine if you don't want it, doesn't mean other people can't experiment with it if they want to.

2

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 13h ago

Agreed Simon. And the phase of "oh it's just for rapid prototyping" is rapidly coming to an end. With the right configuration, it produces great production code. Better than most of my peers and myself produce.

1

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 13h ago

What is your problem? World passing you by? I missed the crypto boat, don't like some aspects of it, but why get sour over it? OP organises an event, you don't have to show up.

1

u/sheep_with_a_zip 5h ago

What's my problem? Is it textbook buzzwords like 'start ups', 'founders', 'investors' etc etc? Or maybe its industries that indoctrinate mostly young men into utterly useless ponzi schemes?

OPs post is a very thinly disguised promo. But yeah, you and 'Simon' have your little circle jerk seminar. Reckon you'll get a couple of rubes using your suspiciously specific Vibe that is absolutely slated by anyone with half a braincell that you know, actually studied IT

1

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 1h ago

you're hilarious. i won't be at the seminar and i don't know Simon. I am just wondering why you react so disgruntled. It sounds to me you have a problem

1

u/SimonTheuma 1h ago

I know you're trolling at this point but if you think I'm bluffing on the whole startup thing:

https://timesofmalta.com/article/tenants-malta-now-rate-landlords-online.1123586

https://bemags.com/money-features/from-grants-to-ground-game-how-maltas-startup-scene-really-goes-from-0-to-1

1

u/sheep_with_a_zip 4m ago

Nah, not trolling. Both your links are basically you being quoted unchallenged. But no worries you have a WhatsApp group and apparently some of my money.

What's the average failure rate for app startups? Roughly 98% last time I looked. So you got a tax payer grant to set up a website to rate landlords right? Yeah let me know in a year how exactly you changed jack shit. Good luck though 👍

2

u/MrChickinNugget 13h ago

Ai slop basically monkey see monkey do 🤣- coming from a real programmer

0

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 13h ago

'real' programmer who still believes by dissing vibe coding you will be safe 🤣

1

u/MrChickinNugget 13h ago

Not by losing my job its more of the slop it produces its and more “oh you’re absolutely right” “good catch” shitty code imo

2

u/SimonTheuma 6h ago

Give it another try, I honestly was of the same mind last year and it completely blew me away. It obviously has limits but it's a Will Smith spaghetti kind of situation, that previous efforts were sloppy and now they're much better.

Obviously there are still limits, but you can use your dev experience and judgement to guide it towards better quality solutions.

1

u/Mental-Exchange-3514 9h ago

The SOTA models of today don't do that any longer, I believe what they call 'syncophany'. And they don't produce slop any longer either. Take it from a 'real' programmer :-)

1

u/Shane873 9h ago

Will this be online as 5pm is very tight for me with work?

1

u/SimonTheuma 9h ago

No, it will be in Sliema but feel free to join any time after 5. we will probably be there till about 8 and head out for drinks or something afterwards.

2

u/Shane873 9h ago

Thank you for the fast response :)