I think I'm turning into a vibe coder

To be honest, it has been a long time since I started programming. At first, I was just playing around with HTML and CSS. After about a year, After that I started learning JavaScript and a little bit of React.

Around that time, I went to a vocational school for web development, mainly because I wanted the student benefits. But there I discovered that programming was much deeper than I thought, and I realized I wasn’t as good as I believed. I knew how to do things, but I didn’t understand *why* things worked in a specific way.

So I started learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript again and spent about a year on it. But to be honest, I wasn’t the best listener because I thought I already knew a lot. Because of that, I also started learning other things like Python and Django.

My lecturer was very good. He saw some potential in me, and outside of the syllabus, he started teaching me Node.js and Express so I could understand how the backend works. I studied that for about 3 - 4 months.

After that finished, I continued learning Django by myself. Around that time, my lecturer gave me the opportunity to work on my first paid project, but it was in Laravel. So I started learning Laravel, but I only learned the basics - how to set up routes and a little bit about how Blade works.

I don’t really have much experience with PHP or Laravel. I understand how to organize code, like where things should go, how to set up databases and connections, choose the right folders for files, and basic architecture.

The problem is that for about *six months, I haven’t written a single line of code*, and when I realized that, I was terrified. Those six months passed because I was working on my second paid project using AI tools (Codex is pretty smart ^^). But now I feel like I’ve forgotten many things, JavaScript, React, Express, and other things I used to study.

I still understand the concepts, but the syntax, and even some concepts, are gone. I also have very little motivation to deeply learn PHP and Laravel because AI can write most of the code.

And honestly, I feel alone. My dream is to become a *senior developer*, lead a team, and create really good digital products. But now I realize that I’ve become a *“vibe coder”*, even if I’m a somewhat capable one. Because of that, I feel bad and a bit lost.

Any advice would be really appreciated.