On splitting vs factoring
Miller-Rabin has been known since at least 1980 (according to Wikipedia). Even though it's probabilistic, it's good enough. For example, openssl uses it$^\textrm{1}$. Chapter 4 of the handbook talks about various primality tests, which may gave you a better understanding of the authors' thoughts.



$^\textrm{1}$See the source code for bn_prime.c