\r
.. _get-started-build-flash:\r
\r
-Build and Flash\r
-===============\r
+Build The Project and Flash\r
+===========================\r
\r
.. highlight:: bash\r
\r
-Now you can build and flash the application. Run::\r
+Now you can build the project. Run::\r
+\r
+ idf.py build\r
+\r
+This command will compile the application and all the ESP-IDF components, generate bootloader, partition table, and application binaries.\r
+\r
+Flash To A Device\r
+=================\r
+\r
+Now you can flash the application to the ESP32 board. Run::\r
\r
idf.py -p PORT flash\r
\r
Replace PORT with the name of your ESP32 board's serial port. On Windows, serial ports have names like ``COM1``. On MacOS, they start with ``/dev/cu.``. On Linux, they start with ``/dev/tty``. (See :doc:`establish-serial-connection` for full details.)\r
\r
-This will compile the application and all the ESP-IDF components, generate bootloader, partition table, and application binaries, and flash these binaries to your ESP32 board.\r
+This step will flash the binaries that you just built to your ESP32 board.\r
+\r
+.. note:: Running ``idf.py build`` before ``idf.py flash`` is not actually necessary, the flash step will automatically build the project if required before flashing.\r
\r
.. highlight:: none\r
\r