Absolutely! I'm also a web person and I got into embedded as a hobby using ESP8266 w/ the Arduino IDE (The ESP32 is a newer, better ESP8266).

I cannot recommend it enough. I've built some neat stuff, like this device[0] for triggering my door buzzer over the web.

[0] - https://jeremypoole.ca/posts/put-your-door-on-the-internet/