Can a newbie really vibe code an app? I tried Cursor and Replit to find out

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Tools such as Cursor can go a long way toward simplifying code setup.
• There's still a lot of work to refine the results.
• Conceiving an app's goals and how to get there is the hidden gotcha of AI coding.

The biggest success so far of generative artificial intelligence in the enterprise is AI coding tools that assist programmers. Startups such as Cursor, Replit, Lovable Labs, Harness, Windsurf, Augment Code, All Hands AI, and Microsoft, with its Visual Studio with GitHub Co-pilot, all offer programs that can drastically reduce the hand-coding humans need to do.

And so I wondered: Could a newbie like me, with limited programming knowledge, talk my way through creating an app?

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said that vibe coding English is going to be the ...