As Tmoose alluded, most suspension designs don't maintain a constant distance between the articulation centers over the range of suspension travel, so half-shafts must use splines, or use a type of CV joint that also serves as a spline.
Tmoose also pointed out that plain splines don't like to slide under load, so ball splines are sometimes used.
There are other ways to deal with the changing shaft length problem. Later Corvairs and many Corvettes omitted a lateral link, so that the half-shaft itself acted as its own lateral link. AFAIK, no one has done that with a CV joint, only Cardan joints, because Cardan joints can carry a substantial axial load, and most CV joints cannot.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA