Hot take: LLMs are really good at coding, but it's still more fun to create our own designs from scratch in a design tool
22.01.2026 13:47
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Hot take: LLMs are really good at coding, but it's still more fun to create our own designs from scratch in a design tool
This is by far the most exciting time to be a programmer
We got AI building us MVPs, vibe coders bringing dreams to life and enough AI models to keep us entertained for a long time
Vibe-coding still needs good auth 😎
Whether you’re shipping with Cursor/Claude or writing everything by hand, auth is still the front door to your app
I tested WorkOS AuthKit + Radar and came away thinking:
Full write-up 👇
Submit: www.proofofusefulness.com
Referral code: AndrewBaisden
FAQ: hackernoon.com/everything-y...
🚀 HackerNoon’s Proof of Usefulness Hackathon is live
Not a demo contest. Not "coming soon."
Real software. Real users. Real utility.
🗓 Jan 5 → Jun 5, 2026 (rolling submissions)
🏆 $150,000+ prizes + credits
🎁 Every participant gets $1,500+ tools + a PoU score report
🧵👇
The great thing about vibe coding is that we can finally build the apps of our dreams and add features which we wish other apps had, and the entry level is a "prompt".
Still need to know programming fundamentals to make it secure and scalable, though, but it's still a huge jump nonetheless.
What was your path to becoming a full-stack developer?
Me:
Mongo
Express
React
Node
Unpopular opinion:
Vibe coding creates builders
Software development creates engineers
Builders ask:
"Can we ship it?"
Engineers ask:
"Can we support it?"
You need both
But they are not the same
Two of the greatest note-taking apps
Power meets simplicity
Simplicity meets power
Hmm maybe. The job market is important too, React still has the most jobs available.
Auth is easy; enterprise auth is not. I spent time evaluating WorkOS AuthKit + Radar, and the big takeaway is this:
They are built for the moment your SaaS stops being small
Read about WorkOS in my latest article dev.to/andrewbaisde...
Lately, it seems like the biggest gap isn’t coding anymore…
Its ownership
Anyone can generate code
Not everyone can:
- debug it under pressure
- secure it
- maintain it
- support users
- ship updates without breaking it all
Vibe coding ships fast
Ownership ships forever
Frontend in 2026 feels like this
The Seven Stages of Web Dev:
- PSD → HTML
- jQuery everywhere
- CMS themes & templates
- Component-based frameworks
- Utility-first CSS
- AI-assisted coding
- Vibe coding
IDEs before AI vs IDEs after AI
Programmers assemble:
- Frontend developer
- Backend developer
- Full-stack developer
- Software engineer
- DevOps engineer
- QA / Test engineer
When you want a mechanical keyboard without the bulk
Before AI:
Learn JavaScript before React
Now:
Everyone is vibing
Are we cooked?
Happy writing. How many newsletters do you publish in a month?
Is that a Logitech MX Master 4? I own a 3S, so I can wait.
Peak mouse design
A builder’s tech stack
When LinkedIn tells you you’re a "top applicant"
Reality:
- 100+ applicants
- Same notification sent to everyone
- "Hiring" ≠ hiring
Every full-stack JavaScript dev passes through this phase
Happy New Year, Everyone 🎉
Here’s to growth, momentum, and building better things in 2026 🚀
shell autocompletions for your javascript cli tool.
introducing tab:
Each debugging tool has a personality:
🧠 Sentry ➡️ Error genius
📊 Datadog ➡️ Infrastructure guru
🎨 FullStory ➡️ UX storyteller
🎥 LogRocket ➡️ Replay master
🤝 @multiplayer.app ➡️ Dev team collaborator
I wrote a full comparison here in this new article medium.com/javascript-i...
The dev timeline (AI era):
2020: No AI coding
2021: Copilot arrives
2022: ChatGPT drops
2023: AI becomes default
2024: Agents & workflows
2025: Devs orchestrate systems
2026: AI is not a tool, it’s the team?
AI moved from assistant, to PM, team lead, and half the dev team
Most developers think AI makes them faster
The real shift is this:
Before:
We wrote code > waited > and fixed bugs
Now:
We design systems > delegate to AI > review outcomes
AI didn’t change what we build
It changed how responsibility flows
My most-used dev and AI concepts this year:
Type safety > everything
React + Next.js
APIs and contracts
Zod, Prisma, TanStack
Monorepos and pnpm
Caching, auth, CI/CD
AI agents, RAG, evals
