ESP32 Forum

What is the motivation of using esp32 arduino instead using directly esp idf?
When I compile esp arduino even small program is bigger then 600kb.
I know the esp arduino is developed by espressif and using the same esp core.
What is the advantages if esp-arduino please?

Probably gong to get slammed for saying this.
IMHO esp32 Arduino is for non serious, mostly lazy people that just want to get something done super fast with minimal reading and learning. Basically copy others code and be done with it.
ESP32-IDF is for the more serious where you can control every aspect of the SOC. For instance, ESP32 Arduino does not even support menuconfig which is a TOTAL shame, because menuconfig is awesome!!!

It is mostly for faster prototyping, as mikemoy says. However, there are also a lot of modules and drivers written for arduino that can be used with esp32. It is also handy for making cross-platform code that can run on an arduino device or an esp32.
Best part is that you can have the best of both worlds. You can use IDF functionality directly in arduino-esp32 by including the needed header files in Arduino IDE, or arduino-esp32 can be built as a IDF component, so that you can then have the ease of programming with arduino objects (WiFi, Wire, etc) along with the control of menuconfig and the full make environment.
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/ard ... onent.html
https://github.com/espressif/esp32-arduino-lib-builder

Well I actually wanted to write the code in pure ESP-IDF, wanted to have more control over evertyhing and learn the inside out of the chip but there are some libraries I need like the DMD library to write on P10 Led Panels, and I tried to convert the arduino library to ESP-IDF but was not successful. In the long run if I do manage to achieve it eventually I will like to continue with IDF, but currently with my knowledge limitations and need to display something fast arduino is the best way to go for me it seems.

Motivation? I think the motivation is to get something done as faster you can to proof something or just to solve one problem you have.
The motivation is very particular from person to person and depends on the project you are doing.

Arduino can be a faster path to get something done by someone with limited skills or time. I'm not saying that Arduino is for limited skills users but it's easier than ESP-IDF to get started in the embedded world and tons of examples are also available, libraries, full projects, tutorials, videos, etc.

I know a lot of serious companies (really big companies) that use Arduino for prototyping and PoC just because you can get something working very fast to prove to someone from the high-level management that the project is doable.

For products, the limitation of using Arduino is the license model. For some code and libraries, you need to share your source code.

You can see more about it here: https://github.com/espressif/arduino-es ... LICENSE.md

Anyway, the core of the Arduino ESP32 is the ESP-IDF and you can start with Arduino and then move to ESP-IDF if you want.

@ESP_Minatel, Though I agree with your points. My beef with Arduino is that it teaches new coders things that will only confuse them later if they move to how things are really done in the real world of embedded. There are no such things as setip(), loop(), Serial.print and so on. They get to comfortable with the idea of just adding a library to do something to "get it done quickly" that they never bother to go through the source code for it when more often than not there are issues with it. Arduino gives the allusion that just because you can import code that it's golden. So it promotes poor coding practices, and does not encourage learning.

But Like you said, it does make it easy for someone to jump in and flicker a led or relay.