I don't know what the book covers. However, there has been quite a lot of new applications dealing with normal map popping up in recent years, so my bet is that the book is indeed outdated although still applicable. As far as I know, today there are a couple ways to create normal maps. Painting per channel as you mentioned…
You can create any type of map, PBR and old-school system. Check out the substance thread here to see some examples of materials created using only substance.