Part2- What other medthod can achieve the same result?

Even though it does not represent the same result, I assume you are refering to SubD´s modelling.

SubD´s or Subdivision Surfaces are the very next thing in modelling. Many VFX houses are accomodating their pipelines to allow SubD´s workflow.

It´s actually a merge between the easy of handling of Polygons with the smoothness of a Nurbs surface. CPS was actually created to emulate this workflow for machines that had Maya Complete in times it did not offer SubDs.

Taken from Docs
Modeling with subdivision surfaces is an easy way to create intricate objects such as human hands. It offers the best techniques of NURBS and polygonal modeling, and includes several unparalleled features.

Like NURBS surfaces, subdivision surfaces are smooth and can be shaped using relatively few control vertices. Like polygonal surfaces, you can extrude areas of a surface to add appendages or other irregular shapes. For instance, you can extrude four fingers and a thumb from a palm-shaped object.

An important distinction of subdivision surfaces is that you can build a perfectly smooth, complex object, for instance a dog, from a single primitive. There's no need to create separate pieces and stitch them together, as is often necessary with NURBS surfaces. There are no seams that can break apart during animation.

With a subdivision surface, you can modify its shape at various levels of detail to suit your needs. If you are creating a thumb, for instance, you alter its entire diameter by scaling a small number of vertices. If you next want to create a lumpy knuckle, you switch to a higher number of vertices at the desired region and drag vertices into the desired shape. You can switch between the different levels of detail as often as necessary.