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by cnvogel 3605 days ago
All switching power supplies (hence the name) are driven by either full-on or full-off ("switching") transistors. A "flyback" topology is only one of many possible ways to build a switching power supply, but as it's the simplest, it's the most common in low power supplies.

See the Switch−Mode Power Supply Reference Manual from ON Semiconductor for info on all the other possible ways to build a switching power supply.