What are some common/popular/go-to switching voltage regulators?
That's easy, MC34063 is a very common part that has been around for quite a while so there are several manufacturers and many applications.

In the buck configuration it will output up to 700 mA without dissipating very much power.

It comes in dip8 and soic8, so it's small enough for many products and still easy to prototype with.

You can find lots on ebay for very little money

The only disadvantage is that it's an older part with a lower switch frequency than newer parts, so the inductor will have to be a bit larger.

For space-critical applications you will probably need a newer part with a higher switching frequency, so the inductor can be smaller, but those parts are quite a bit more expensive. 

With an external switch transistor you can get higher currents.

The MC34063 is so popular there's even a Youtube video about it.