ESP32 - Setting up ESP-IDF and starting a project using MINGW32

This post is about how to setup ESP-IDF for ESP32 development on computer running MS-Windows 8.1 OS. The post is based mainly on the material available at https://esp-idf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/get-started/index.html#get-esp-idf with additional info. added by myself while testing it out.

Host OS: MS-Windows 8.1, 64 bits
CPU: Intel Core i5, Dual Core.

Note,
It's extremely slow (2~3 hours) to execute the make command in MINGW32. It's better to install Ubuntu in VirtualBox for ESP32 development (only 1~2 minutes to execute the make command).

Setting up ESP-IDF

According to "ESP-IDF Programming Guide", the following are needed for developing applications for ESP32:

- PC loaded with either Windows, Linux or Mac operating system;

- Toolchain to build the Application for ESP32;

- ESP-IDF that essentially contains API for ESP32 and scripts to operate the Toolchain;

- A text editor to write programs (Projects) in C, e.g. Eclipse;

- The ESP32 board itself and a USB cable to connect it to the PC.