JetBrains

JetBrains was founded in 2000 by Sergey Dmitriev, Eugene Belyaev, and Valentin Kipyatkov, initially as a company focused on developing productivity tools for developers. The first product, IntelliJ Renamer, was a refactoring tool for Java, but the company quickly pivoted to building a full-featured IDE, releasing IntelliJ IDEA in 2001. The company moved its headquarters to Prague in 2004, and it has since expanded with offices in Munich, Boston, and other cities. JetBrains has grown through a mix of organic development and acquisitions, including the acquisition of Kotlin (which was developed in-house) and the creation of the Kotlin Foundation with Google in 2017. The company remains privately held, with a strong focus on developer experience and tooling innovation.

JetBrains is best known for its line of IDEs, each tailored to a specific programming language or ecosystem: IntelliJ IDEA for Java, PyCharm for Python, WebStorm for JavaScript, and Rider for .NET. The company also produces the Kotlin programming language, which is now a first-class language for Android development, and the ReSharper extension for Visual Studio. In 2020, JetBrains introduced Space, a team collaboration platform, and Fleet, a lightweight IDE designed for remote development. The company's IDEs are built on a common platform, allowing for consistent user experience and plugin compatibility. JetBrains also offers a range of tools for data science, such as DataGrip and DataSpell, and has a strong presence in the educational market with free licenses for students and teachers.

JetBrains operates on a subscription-based business model, offering individual and organizational licenses for its products. The company also provides free community editions for some tools, such as IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition and PyCharm Community Edition, which have contributed to its widespread adoption. JetBrains actively engages with the developer community through open-source projects, such as the Kotlin language, and through annual events like the JetBrains Day and KotlinConf. The company also runs a plugin marketplace with thousands of third-party plugins, fostering a vibrant ecosystem. JetBrains has been recognized for its developer-friendly policies, including a 'fallback license' that allows perpetual use of the last version before a subscription lapses.

Beyond its well-known IDEs, JetBrains has contributed to several niche tools and projects. For instance, the company developed the YouTrack issue tracker, which uses a custom query language, and the TeamCity continuous integration server, which introduced the concept of build agents. JetBrains also created the MPS (Meta Programming System), a tool for building domain-specific languages, which is used in some financial and aerospace industries. The company's early product, IntelliJ Renamer, was a precursor to the refactoring capabilities now common in IDEs. JetBrains has also been involved in the development of the Grazie language tool, which provides grammar and style checking for multiple languages. Additionally, the company's internal research has influenced the design of its products, such as the use of machine learning for code completion in IntelliJ-based IDEs.

IDE

Integrated Development Environment, a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to programmers for software development.

Kotlin

A statically typed programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine and is used for Android development.

Refactoring

The process of restructuring existing computer code without changing its external behavior.