Its a multi password type checker. Using the [PHC string format](https://github.com/P-H-C/phc-string-format/blob/master/phc-sf-spec.md) we can identify a password hashing format from the prefix `$name$` and then dispatch the hashing or checking to its specific format.
This shows how one would set a preferred hashing type and if the current version of ones password is not the preferred type updates it to enhance the security of the hashed password when someone logs in.
Well for this there is the option for a hash type to set itself as a fall through if a matching hash doesn’t exist. This is good for legacy password types that don’t follow the convention.
Circling back to the `IsPreferred` method. A hasher can define its own `IsPreferred` method that will be called to check if the current hash meets the complexity requirements. This is good for updating the password hashes to be more secure over time.