"Zero Basics of Vibe Coding" is released today: that moment of "It turns out I can do it too"

*The 21st book is written for the me who didn’t dare to say that I could make websites or apps three years ago. Of course, this book is written for you now. *

This article is adapted from the Vista e-newsletter No.139: “Learning Vibe Coding from Zero Basics” is launched today, the moment “It turns out I can do it too” (opens in a new tab).

Yesterday morning, when the first batch of “Zero Basics of Vibe Coding (opens in a new tab)” paper books were delivered to my home, I stared at the cover for a long time. This is my 21st book. Logically speaking, I should be used to it, but this book is different. The first 20 books are all about things that I am “already familiar with”, such as: content marketing, self-media management, personal branding…

But this new book is about things that I couldn’t say I knew three years ago:

Use AI to turn an idea into something that can actually be launched and used.

Why is it “zero basis”?

I have no salary background. I have been a reporter, editor, and product manager in the past, and I have never been a procedural designer. For the past twenty years, my role has been more about thinking, ideating, and writing, but not really an implementer or builder (opens in a new tab). If the website breaks down, you have to find an engineer. If the app fails, you have to find an outsourcer. If you want to automate the process, put it on the to-do list, and then it will always be the last item on the list.

These changes actually occurred after the advent of ChatGPT. It’s not that I suddenly learned to write programs, but I discovered that as long as I can explain something clearly, AI can accompany me to complete it step by step. The article you are reading now, my personal website, and solo.tw (opens in a new tab), which sells courses and services, are all “said” by me line by line: writing the article, pushing it to GitHub, and then leaving the subsequent construction and launch to automated processes.

To be honest, three years ago I could never have imagined that this would happen to me.

What this book wants to share with you is how did this threshold disappear? The three keywords in the title of the book, website, app, and work automation tool, were not chosen at random. They are the three things that I have actually made since February this year, and are the three things that I am most often asked, “Did you do this yourself?”

This book is not a programming course

There are many books on the market that teach AI programming, and most of them assume that you understand at least a little programming logic. The starting point of this book is earlier: you may not even know what “front-end” and “back-end” are. That’s right, this book is written for you.

The core concept I want to convey in the book is: Reading program code does not have to be understood word for word, just like reading a recipe. You do not need to understand chemical reactions to make a dish, and you do not need to understand compilation principles to understand what the program written for you by AI is doing and where adjustments need to be made. Once this concept is established, the self-imposed limitation of “not being a technical person” will loosen.

The book also dismantles the actual deployment process of vista.tw and solo.tw (opens in a new tab), allowing you to see how a completely open and operational website goes from the draft of an article to the automatic construction and launch. Not a schematic, but a real process.

What this book wants to give you is an experience of “It turns out I can do it too”

I’m well aware that reading a book (opens in a new tab) will not instantly turn anyone into a developer, and this book was never intended to be that. What I want to give you, the readers, is not a programming lesson, but a personal experience of “it turns out I can do it myself.” This sentence is written in the book and is also my most original motivation for writing this book.

What has really changed in this era is not who can write programs and who can’t, but that the threshold for doing it is rapidly falling. I’m not trying to train everyone to be an engineer, but I want to give everyone who could only think and wait for help give them the opportunity to do it themselves for the first time.

If you are

• A one-person company operator who wants to build a website or registration page, but the outsourcing quotation and communication costs deter you.
• Content creators who want to automate their processes but don’t know where to start
• People who are simply curious about “Can AI really do this?”

I think this book is suitable for you to read. On the other hand, if you are already an engineer and want to find advanced AI-assisted development skills, this book may not be your first choice.

Its starting point is to set it up for friends who have never written a single-line program.

The publisher has prepared a complete Preview Manuscript (opens in a new tab), and interested friends can take a sneak peek!

Listed today, I would like to invite you to be the first batch of readers

When I was writing this article, I was thinking of myself three years ago who had no idea where to start. If someone had handed me a book at that time and said, “You can do it yourself,” I would probably have avoided a lot of unnecessary mistakes.

If you are also standing at that starting point, today is the best time:

🛒 Book purchase link: https://vista.im/vibecoding (opens in a new tab)

Finally, I would like to give you a free tool “Vibe Coding Topic Selector (opens in a new tab)” to help you determine which project is suitable as your first work? Well, this matter is actually more important than imagined. Choosing the wrong first project is the main reason why most people give up halfway.

This is my 21st book, and it is a book written for you now, not for myself ten years ago. If you have any thoughts after reading, please leave a message below and I will be happy to discuss it with you.