Mostly has to do with backwards compatibility. I tend to go the gmic route, which provides a high degree of freedom, but I have to hand do everything, so I am mostly lax in getting it right all the way through, at least for the PlayRaws.
It depends on what you want to achieve. See: New shadows/highlights tool with enhanced halo control. It is only a part of what @Carmelo_DrRaw has been working on. He has a way to preserve the ratios at the end, though one might disagree with the method.