I was taught back in the dark ages to always use the parking brake, and I still do. With an automatic, you were to stop, apply the parking brake while your foot on the brake, shift into neutral and take you foot off the brake to remove the load on the transmission, and then shift into park. This was especially important parking on hills. With a manual trans, I do the same thing. Apply the parking brake (on a hill), remove my foot from the brake pedal and let the car "roll" onto the parking brake. Put the car in first gear, stop the engine and let out the clutch.