If we have a term like “vibe coding,” where you build an application by describing what you want it to do using natural language (like English) and an LLM generates the code, we probably should have an equal opposite term that’s catchier than “traditional coding,” where you build an application using a programming language to define the application’s algorithms and data structures.
I propose the term grind coding, which is short, catchy, and has the same linguistic “feel” as vibe coding.
Having these two terms also makes it clear that there’s a spectrum between these two styles. For instance, I’ve done some “mostly grind with a little vibe” coding where I’ve written most of the code and had an LLM write up some small part that I couldn’t be bothered to write — a regular expression or function. There’ve also been some “most vibe with a little grind” cases where I’ve had an LLM or Claude code do most of the coding, and then I did a little manual adjustment afterwards.