Second Hochschild cohomology classifies split square-zero extensions ($H{H}^2(R,M)$)

Fix an $R$-bimodule $M$. A unital ground-ring-linear split extension with square-zero kernel $M$ can be identified with $R\oplus M$, with multiplication $(a,u)(b,v)=(ab,av+ub+f(a,b))$. Associativity is exactly $\delta f=0$. Changing a unital linear section by $g:R\to M$ changes $f$ by $\delta g$. Thus equivalence classes of these split extensions are $H{H}^2(R,M)$. Over a field every such vector-space extension splits; over a general ground ring a splitting hypothesis is essential for this ordinary cochain classification.