I am not sure if Java is any more practical than say Node.js or Python.
unless you set out with the mindset of NO NODE/NO PYTHON, it tends to worm it's way into the project coz someone on the team thought it was convenient
This may change,though, what with Oracle's license changes.
And, yes, that's often the reason parts of the world move to other things. Hopefully, someone saw an actual problem with the stack they were using, saw a solution elsewhere and moved. However, anecdotally, I often see people deciding emotionally that the Hip Cool New Thing is The Right Way To Go and that's what they use ... and then discover the warts are bigger, or the problems aren't actually solved, or the only thing different is the vocabulary.
I haven't done a lot of 'production' Python or Node, but I have heard people gripe about the need for some of these.