coding is right here to remain. Instruments like Cursor, V0, and Lovable have dramatically lowered the barrier to entry — constructing dashboards, pipelines, or complete apps can now be completed in a fraction of the time.
I take advantage of these instruments each day, they usually’ve undoubtedly made me sooner. However because the codebase will get extra complicated, the tradeoffs turn into clear: cryptic bugs, tangled logic, and hours misplaced debugging code I didn’t really perceive.
AI instruments are nice — particularly for rookies — however they arrive with a quiet value. The extra you let AI carry the load, the less probabilities it’s important to sharpen your instincts that come from wrestling with complexity.
Sure, AI will pace up your workflow, however you’ll additionally skip the formative steps the place technical knowledge is earned.
“Vibe coding” — rapidly cobbling collectively code with minimal planning — is nice for demos or experiments. However for deeper technical development or constructing programs with significant complexity, vibe coding isn’t sufficient. This trending Reddit submit sums it up completely: left unchecked, vibe coding creates extra issues than it solves.
On this piece, I’ll present you the best way to use AI-assisted instruments extra correctly — and why contributing to Open Source could be probably the most underrated approach to really stage up your technical expertise.
My expertise vibe coding with Cursor
Like many builders, I switched from VS Code (with GitHub Copilot) to Cursor and am presently subscribed to Cursor’s Professional plan ($20/month).
The function I depend on most is Cursor’s built-in AI chat, which lets me instantly work together with my complete codebase. Its agent can rapidly grep via a number of information and even deal with photos - extraordinarily helpful when navigating giant, unfamiliar repos. It additionally spots linter errors and auto-corrects them whereas instantly modifying information.
Initially, Cursor dramatically boosted my productiveness, particularly for less complicated duties. It felt highly effective, virtually magical. However as issues bought complicated, I seen some cracks. Cursor would typically generate spaghetti code, combine up equally named information throughout directories, and sometimes battle to comply with intricate logic flows.
Vibe coding can get you 1000’s of strains of code in minutes — however with out a robust psychological mannequin of what you’re constructing, you threat ending up with bloated, over-engineered programs.
Cursor does an honest job narrowing down the search house when debugging. However letting it make unchecked edits does introduce much more bugs than it solves.
Past the same old recommendation to “write higher prompts,” one technique I’ve discovered particularly useful is telling Cursor NOT to make direct edits. (It’s surprisingly obedient about this!)
As a substitute, I explicitly ask it to recommend modifications first within the chat interface. Then, I might evaluate every suggestion, determine which edits made sense, and apply them selectively — both manually or via Cursor. In contrast to ChatGPT, Cursor’s greatest energy is its contextual consciousness of your entire codebase and its potential to parse via prolonged information (over 5k strains of code) by processing them in manageable chunks.
Contributing to open supply
So, how do you get technically stronger? Two methods stand out: aspect initiatives and open supply contributions.
Aspect initiatives are nice for exploring new tech or diving deep into one thing you’re passionate or inquisitive about. Marvel how AI brokers work or inquisitive about MCP? Simply constructing a easy weekend challenge teaches you way over hours of tutorials or documentation. Due to open-source, instruments and assets are freely accessible, leveling the taking part in discipline for everybody.
However solo initiatives have downsides. It’s straightforward to lose motivation — lots of my very own aspect initiatives by no means noticed the sunshine of day.
Plus, you will discover your self in an echo chamber: your code works, however you’re undecided if it’s following greatest practices or business requirements. In the event you’re early in your profession and lack mentorship, how are you aware if you happen to’re even heading in the right direction?
That is precisely the place open supply fills the hole. Open supply initiatives aren’t only for coding wizards; they’re for everybody. Your favorite libraries like Pandas, Matplotlib, TensorFlow, and Keras rely closely on group involvement.
Why hassle contributing?
Open supply permits you to make an actual influence utilized by 1000’s of builders — not simply toy initiatives no one sees. You’ll turn into proficient with model management (hiya, GitHub!), sharpen your expertise navigating complicated codebases, choose up greatest practices, and construct a community of people that can vouch for you when it issues.
There are profession advantages too. It’ll add to your portfolio and private model, and also you’ll ramp up sooner when becoming a member of new groups.
However, contribute for the suitable causes. In case your solely motivation is touchdown a job, DON’T contribute! Open supply shouldn’t be a ticket to get a job — it requires real curiosity and dedication. It reveals you’ve a ardour to construct, and for a lot of startups that start from open supply initiatives, that’s how they discover their first hires.
Selecting an open supply challenge that you simply care about
Beginning out can appear daunting. Many fashionable repos have monumental codebases, probably outdated documentation, or a whole bunch of unclear points. So how do you choose?
First up, choose a challenge you genuinely care about. This would possibly sound apparent, however it’s essential — and underrated.
Select one thing you truly use, whether or not at work or in a aspect challenge. Leaping into an unfamiliar challenge with unfamiliar tech is just overwhelming, and also you’ll lose motivation quick.
Personally, I’m each a person and an enormous fan of PostHog — the product analytics platform constructed particularly for builders — so I began contributing there. Their docs had been complete and well-structured, which made it an superior place to start out. (And no, they didn’t pay me to say this!)
What to contribute?
There are a ton of issues you are able to do. Right here’s an strategy that I discovered useful.
- Discover a function you want or enhance one thing you utilize.
Narrowing down contributions to options you genuinely care about provides readability and motivation. The most effective code comes from fixing issues you personally face. - Arrange your native surroundings.
Fork the challenge, clone it regionally, and get it working. Perceive the place logs are and the best way to check modifications. Get a grasp on the challenge’s fundamental construction and coding type. - Begin small and study by doing
Many repos tag beginner-friendly points (like “good-first-issue”). Decide these to start out. Perceive and replicate the bug; don’t hesitate to remark if you happen to’re caught. Once you open a PR, guarantee your modifications cross all linting and exams.
Studying to navigate the codebase is crucial. You don’t must learn each line — that’s virtually unimaginable. After greedy the high-level construction, dive in. Begin small to get snug with the construct, deployment, and PR evaluate course of. Write clear commit messages and PR descriptions. Test just lately merged PRs to see profitable examples or insightful discussions.
Wrapping up
Contributing to open supply takes endurance — fashionable repos are large, and studying takes time. Turning into a constant, worthwhile contributor takes at the very least a couple of months, so don’t get discouraged by preliminary setbacks. In case your PR is rejected otherwise you get caught on a difficult bug, that’s completely regular — it’s all a part of the educational course of.
In the event you’re new to open supply and need to chat, be happy to attach. Whereas I didn’t dive deeply into technical particulars right here (a fast Google or ChatGPT search can information you there), I hope this provides you the big-picture perspective to get began. Open supply has been rewarding for me — and I hope it is going to be for you too.
See you within the subsequent article 🙂
