  A differential calculus on an associative algebra A is an algebraic analogue
of the calculus of differential forms on a smooth manifold. It supplies A with
a structure on which dynamics and field theory can be formulated to some extent
in very much the same way we are used to from the geometrical arena underlying
classical physical theories and models. In previous work, certain differential
calculi on a commutative algebra exhibited relations with lattice structures,
stochastics, and parametrized quantum theories. This motivated the present
systematic investigation of differential calculi on commutative and associative
algebras. Various results about their structure are obtained. In particular, it
is shown that there is a correspondence between first order differential
calculi on such an algebra and commutative and associative products in the
space of 1-forms. An example of such a product is provided by the Ito calculus
of stochastic differentials.
  For the case where the algebra A is freely generated by `coordinates' x^i,
i=1,...,n, we study calculi for which the differentials dx^i constitute a basis
of the space of 1-forms (as a left A-module). These may be regarded as
`deformations' of the ordinary differential calculus on R^n. For n < 4 a
classification of all (orbits under the general linear group of) such calculi
with `constant structure functions' is presented. We analyse whether these
calculi are reducible (i.e., a skew tensor product of lower-dimensional
calculi) or whether they are the extension (as defined in this article) of a
one dimension lower calculus. Furthermore, generalizations to arbitrary n are
obtained for all these calculi.
