u/drifterpreneurs

Hi everyone,

I'm a full-stack developer, however, due to the rise of AI vibe coding, I'm not sure if coding by hand is worth the effort anymore.

I took a few months off after using AI, but I genuinely have a passion for coding. I am aware that AI isn't perfect and still requires human intervention.

My main question is, "Are you still dev'ing like before AI?"

Besides knowing your complete codebase and how your code functions, where do you feel the value lies in still writing code by hand?

Lastly, where do you see the value in continuing to progress and learn in 2026 and beyond?

Hi everyone,

I’m a full-stack developer, I worked with many frameworks but it seems that coding by hand isn’t as valuable anymore.

Where do you see the differentiate between Devs who code by hand (at least 75%) will be in the next coming year and beyond vs those who vibe-code entire applications?

Personally, I loved coding by hand with a passion but we must not ignore AI as it’s becoming our extinction.

Besides claims of human responsibility such as bug fixes (actually knowing the code), infrastructure and reliability and etc. How are you able to thrive as a developer in today’s times or have you left the field?

Using Claude has been an amazing experience but it took all the fun out of coding as a full-stack dev.

Are any devs reverting back to coding by hand with less usage of AI?

Hi everyone,

Just curious, 🧐 who’s still using Express.js in 2026?

I’ve tested a lot of different frameworks, but I’m still not sure about the constraints. It often feels like things become too opinionated and less flexible once you go past a certain point, which makes it harder to enjoy the conventions.

I’ve gone back to my original Express stack: Node/Express, EJS, Zod, Alpine.js, Alpine AJAX, Better-SQLite3, raw SQL with a DB driver, Session-File-Factory, Tailwind CSS, GSAP, and p5.js. I’m also implementing a feature based architecture to keep the codebase well organized. Only one Tailwind build step, easy deployment via VPS.

Not sure why, but I really enjoy building Express SSR applications. It probably comes down to simplicity and low overhead. It allows me to get straight to work without fighting frameworks/conventions.