When baloob says “ESP-IDF”, I understand you need the ESP IDE (or maybe Platformio) to compile the firmware, not just using esp-idf as the framework in esphome.
Likely, the firmware is “pure” C++.
I don’t think so. He mentions ESP-IDF and ESPHome in the same sentence. But maybe we should just wait until Wednesday… 
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Emphasise “also”, as I read it it “this kit is what you need for the tutorial, but afterwards you can use it for esphome if you like”.
Given that there is a pretty prescribed piece of kit, maybe there is a precompiled binary for the tutorial.
OK so as far as I understood up till now this is a well-marketed rebranding of Zigbee, with a few additions.
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Actually, the only thing i n common I can see is that they relate to IoT.
The underlying protocols are completely different.
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Well, there is some margin for improvement in your understanding. If there were any relation between the two worlds than it would probably be “ZigBee IP” vs Thread. Did you ever hear of ZigBee IP? I guess not. It never really made it to the market. Whatever you have really seen in terms of ZigBee has nothing to do with Matter (or Thread as a low level protocol).
The only thing in common between Matter and Zigbee is standards certification are both owned by the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
- Matter uses IPv6 so is good for mains devices, and as an integration protocol between hubs, phones, and the Cloud (a hub is not necessarily required). ~250 manufacturers are signed up.
- Zigbee uses IEEE 802.15.4 so is good for battery devices
- An allied protocol, Thread also uses IEEE 802.15.4 BUT addressing and discovery is DIFFERENT from Zigbee.
- Hub Border Routers connect protocols (e.g. Zigbee 3.0 <=> Matter), a function which HASS is likely to support along with Nest Hubs, Amazon Echo, etc.
I suggest looking at a few of the links in my previous posts for detail - both consumer, and low-level tech.
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This sounds awesome! One question though, will an ESP8266 work? I have a few lying aroundd, but no ESP32’s.
Did you even bother to read this thread before posting to it?
ESP8* and ESP12 are very different from an ESP32-C3 - 8086 compared with a Pentium.
The ESP32-C3 is a specific MCU designed for secure IoT applications - e.g. Matter.
The ESP32 family supports IEEE 802.15.4, a cryptographic accelerator, BTLE 5, more powerful CPU (single and dual-core), 2x GPIO pins, 8x the ADCs, 1/4x the sleep current, capacitive touch, the list goes on and on… ESP32-C3 data sheet
I suggest looking at a few of the links in my previous posts for detail - both consumer, and low-level tech.
It seems to me that the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 Dongle is also a supported Matter device in due time. Price is around 10 €/$.
Sources
Guys, afaik there is still not a single Matter device on the market.
Having this “demo” workshop is nice, but it’s basically a WIP for everybody, so let’s not give it more importance than it has as of today 
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Mmm… ok. Could you point me to available Matter consumer devices so that I can stand corrected?
Eve, Nano Leaf, Homekit, Nest - just from the back of my memory without any detailed verification.
Those are brands, not products.
Random quote from nanloleaf:
Which I translate as: Matter is not finalized yet. We tried to make our products future-proof and you can expect a firmware upgrade will make them compatible with the final specification in due time.
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His point was that these devices aren’t available for purchase, and he’s correct about that. The only matter devices that can be purchased are the dev chips at this time.
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Exactly. And my complete point is: do not invest in Matter just yet.
Everybody is more-or-less guessing what the final specification will be, so at best you’re buying unneeded hardware that will only be useful next year, at worst that hardware will actually prove incompatible.
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I assume you aren’t including the esp32 itself. As @balloob points out it has plenty of fallback used.
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