This text is a very readable work that every practitioner in the field should read at least once! This is not the ONLY book one should have on the shelf as it is not a self contained introduction to the subject, but rather a wonderful companion to more traditional texts like [038797847X], [0821838040] or [0387979719]. This text spends considerable time on the more practical aspects of the subject and has many examples of using the CoCoA tool -- just what is missing in most standard texts. One of the things I really like about this text is that everything is stated in terms of modules -- not rings as is typical.
