Vibe Coding + Test-Driven Development = Vibe-Driven Development?

Some of the greatest breakthroughs in software started not with specs, but with pure intuition.

Think back to the Homebrew Computer Club in the 1970s, where in a Silicon Valley garage on March 5, 1975, hobbyists, including Steve Wozniak, met around the Altair 8800 and tinkered freely. Wozniak later showcased what would become the Apple I and II there, energized by encouragement from peers; an early demonstration of coding by feel, not by design plan.

Fast-forward to the 80s and 90s: the demo scene emerges. Coders turned limitations into art, creating breathtaking audiovisual demos, often under strict file-size constraints, driven by sheer creative flow, not utility. These pieces weren’t just demos; they were expressions of play and mastery.

Even early open-source projects like Linux and PHP had huge chunks of code written quickly to “just solve the problem.” Contributors were improvising, chasing solutions with momentum and intuition rather than a test suite.

That flow state — what we might consider Vibe Coding — produces creativity, speed, and joy.

But history also shows the cost: fragility, tech debt, and brittle code that only its original author could understand.

That’s where Test-Driven Development (TDD) entered the picture in the 1990s. Kent Beck, while working on the Chrysler payroll project, realized that writing tests before code created clarity and reduced fear. The "Red–Green–Refactor" cycle gave us a rhythm that balanced creativity with confidence. TDD became one of the cornerstones of Extreme Programming and eventually influenced Agile practices worldwide.

👉 My belief: the future is in combining the two. Vibe into ideas. Capture intentions with tests. Refactor with confidence. Then return to the vibe.

I’m calling this Vibe-Driven Development (VDD), I'm not a naming consultant so this could probably use some work.

Would love your thoughts:

• Do you see yourself as more of a "vibe" coder, a TDD purist, or somewhere in between?
• What stories from your own career resonate with this balance?