In my opinion, software engineers should view Vibe Coding with AI as simply the latest iteration of RAD.

• In my opinion, software engineers should view Vibe Coding with AI as simply the latest iteration of RAD. Let me explain.
• In the early 1990s when I first got into coding, RAD was the latest trend in the industry.
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) is an adaptive software development strategy that prioritizes rapid prototyping and quick feedback over long-drawn-out planning and design cycles.
• Instead of following a rigid, linear path, RAD emphasizes iterative development and the use of software tools to build "functional" models of a product very quickly. Does that sound familiar to recent Vibe Coding approaches?
• To go a little deeper, the core principals of RAD where the following:
  • Prototyping: Developers create working models of software features to show users immediately.
  • User feedback: Constant communication with stakeholders ensures the product meets actual needs rather than just original specifications.
  • Iterative design: The software is refined through multiple cycles of testing and adjustment.
  • Speed over perfection: The goal is a fast turnaround, often utilizing CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tools to automate code generation (we had no AI-based code generation back then).
• The golden age of RAD-based approaches was the 1990s when RAD flourished alongside visual programming tools like Visual Basic and Delphi, which allowed "drag-and-drop" interface building.
• The first programming class I attended at university for example was on Visual Basic.
• In 2001 when The Agile Manifesto was published, Agile took the best parts of RAD (speed, iteration) and improved them. RAD began to feel outdated and "clunky."
• RAD, like many trends in the software development industry, simply fell out of favour with the majority of coders.
• While Rapid Application Development (RAD) was the "speed demon" of the 90s, it relied heavily on human-driven visual builders. Today, "Vibe Coding" represents the next evolution, where the developer acts more like a creative director, using natural language and AI to manifest software instantly.
• The transition from RAD to Vibe Coding is a move from low-code (dragging buttons) to no-code/natural-language-code (describing the "vibe" of the app).
• Both approaches share a fundamental DNA:
  • Anti-Waterfall: Both reject the idea of spending months on documentation before writing a single line of code.
  • Prototyping as the goal: The working software is the specification.
  • High abstraction: Both aim to hide the "boring" parts of coding (like boilerplate and syntax) to focus on the final product.
• Where they diverge is that RAD still required a deep understanding of software architecture to connect the visual components to a database. Vibe Coding abstracts the architecture entirely; the AI handles the API calls, CSS layouts, and state management.
• In RAD, you were still "writing" an app; in Vibe Coding, you are "wishing" it into existence and then refining the results.
• A common problem they share is the "Spaghetti code" Problem: just as RAD was criticized for creating messy, unmaintainable code, Vibe Coding faces similar critiques. If the AI generates a thousand lines of code based on a vague prompt, the "vibe coder" may find it nearly impossible to debug manually when the AI hits a wall.
• While Vibe Coding is arguably a "faster RAD", it still requires a human in the loop.
• Such humans should see Vibe Coding as an opportunity to go even faster and not see it as a threat to their livelihoods.
• Us grey-haired coders have see this trend before: it’s just that we have better tools now.

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