Facets on Rings Between D[X] and K[X]

Since the circulation, in 1974, of the first draft of “The construction D + XD_S [X], J. Algebra 53 (1978), 423–439” a number of variations of this construction have appeared. Some of these are: The generalized D + M construction, the A + (X)B[X] construction, with X a single variable or a set of variables, and the D + I construction (with I not necessarily prime). These constructions have proved their worth not only in providing numerous examples and counter examples in commutative ring theory, but also in providing statements that often turn out to be forerunners of results on general pullbacks. The aim of this paper will be to discuss these constructions and the remarkable uses they have been put to. I will concentrate more on the A + XB[X] construction, its basic properties and examples arising from it.