What is dogfooding? How JetBrains builds better developer tools

JetBrains explains how dogfooding — using their own tools in real daily workflows — is central to their product development culture. Engineers, designers, and product managers build with IntelliJ IDEA, track work in YouTrack, and test new tools like Junie internally before any external release. Concrete examples include Rider being used internally in 2016 when it was still crash-prone, and Junie being refined through internal use months before closed beta. The practice creates tight feedback loops, fosters empathy with users, and builds team ownership. The post ends with a call to join JetBrains careers.