That is another way. Having a shift register allows you to have quite a lot of strips connected to your chip, for the “cost” of three pins in total, more or less regardless of how many different strips you want to drive.
If you only want to drive one strip, though, a suitable transistor/MOSFET is a better choice, as you can adapt the schematics to your power requirements.
ELI5 what the TPIC6595 does for you? This guide suggests you just need 3 transistors to go with your microcontroller.
That is another way. Having a shift register allows you to have quite a lot of strips connected to your chip, for the “cost” of three pins in total, more or less regardless of how many different strips you want to drive.
If you only want to drive one strip, though, a suitable transistor/MOSFET is a better choice, as you can adapt the schematics to your power requirements.