@donquixote: That's a reason for not limiting the answer to bicycles or walking.

@RobertHarvey: Ok, expanded my question to incorporate what I've learned from our discussion. Thanks for your help.

@RobertHarvey: Tokens can be used in electronic payment systems, tokens can be used as keys and identifiers, tokens can be used with plugins, etc. I can think of "several," if not "numerous" applications. Perhaps they didn't work "separately" when Programmers SE was started, but they (probably) do now. And more so in the future. (That's why I listed the number of entries).

@Deduplicator: But in any event, "better qualified."

The "problem" is the word "best," which has a subjective tone. Patterns has an objective tone. It, and "best practices" mean basically the same thing, but they "sound" different on SE.

I "fixed" the question to the best of my ability. If that process drew increased scrutiny and early deletion, maybe that was the best outcome. When I fix questions (more successfully on my other, better sites), I try to give them their "best shot." That doesn't mean automatic reopening, only an early "review."