How to Learn to Code Fast in 2025 (For Founders & Indie Hackers)

I started learning to code in 2017. If I had to start over today, I’d take a completely different approach.

If you're a founder, solopreneur, or indie hacker thinking about learning to code, you're probably asking yourself:

• Should I still learn to code in 2025?
• Should I buy a 50 hour long coding course?
• With all these AI tools, do I even need to learn to code anymore?

Let me clear up all your doubts today.

Should You Still Learn to Code?

Yes, if you're an entrepreneur who wants to build your own products.

You might say, “There are AI tools that can build an entire app with just a few instructions.”

But here’s the thing: why would you build an app that anyone can build using the same tool you used?

Where’s your competitive advantage?

One way to stand out is through UI/UX. We’ve already talked about the importance of design in previous articles.

Another way is by learning to code yourself, so you can build complex and unique software. AI tools like Vercel v0, Lovable.dev, and Bolt.new can generate full apps from a simple prompt. It sounds magical, and to some extent, it is.

But here’s the catch:

These tools are great for MVPs and for small apps that mainly handle CRUD operations (create, read, update, delete). The moment your app starts getting real users, you'll need to:

• Track user journeys
• Customize features
• Scale the codebase
• Implement a unique design

And that’s where the limitations of AI only development or what I call “vibe coding” start to show.

Vibe Coding vs. Real Coding (with AI)

There’s a big difference between:

1. Vibe coding – letting AI generate code from prompts or screenshots
2. Coding with AI — where you know what you’re doing and use AI as an assistant

In the first case, you're stuck when things break or don’t behave the way you want them to.

In the second, you leverage AI while actually understanding what's happening. You can edit, debug, and scale your code, because you're not guessing. You're collaborating.

What You Can't Achieve with Vibe Coding?

Let’s say you want to track how users interact with your app.

You want to add user sessions, which page he visited first, what they did next, which button they clicked, which link they visited; in short, the whole user journey.

Can you do that with vibe coding?

Here’s another example:

Your designer sends you a Figma file of your project’s UI. You ask AI to generate it. The result is... close. not perfect. To make it pixel-perfect and responsive, you need to understand how to code.

Sure, screenshots help. But if the design is even slightly creative, AI or LLMs will produce a different version. You can only get it right if you know how to code.

Don’t believe me?

Ask AI to build the hero, blog, or footer section of this developer portfolio. You’ll notice the small things it misses.

Why Founders Should Learn to Code (the Right Way)

Vibe coding helps you ship fast.

But without proper structure, it will break everything as the codebase grows.

Let me elaborate:

Once your MVP is live, you’ll start seeing:

• Unused code
• Duplicate logic
• Hacky fixes
• No validations
• Broken state flows

The UI works. The codebase doesn’t.

And when your app gains traction, you'll want to:

• Add custom logic
• Improve performance
• Handle edge cases
• Build a scalable backend
• Own your roadmap

You can only do that if you understand the code, even if AI is doing most of the typing.

You don’t need to become a senior software engineer.

But you do need to know enough to work with AI like a partner, not like a magician whose spells you don’t understand.

So What’s the Best Way to Learn to Code in 2025 as an Indie Hacker?

Don’t start with a 50-hour course that covers everything from arrays to algorithms.

You’re not trying to land a dev job.

You’re trying to build your product.

Here’s a better path:

1. Learn the essentials – HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Next.js, APIs
2. Pick a real idea you want to build
3. Use AI to help you code faster
4. Fix and modify the AI’s code to fit your needs
5. Repeat with more features and complexity

If you’re looking for a course built specifically for entrepreneurs, check out CodeFast by Marklou. It teaches you how to quickly learn the essentials, start building, and grow your skills while working on your own idea.

You’ll learn exactly what you need, when you need it, by building real things.

AI tools like Lovable and Vercel v0 are impressive. But they’re not the full story.

If you want to differentiate your product, scale it, and truly own the tech behind it, learning to code is still one of the best investments you can make as a founder.

Just don’t learn it the old way.

Learn smart. Learn by building. Learn with AI.