This unique book on commutative algebra is divided into two parts in order to facilitate its use in several types of courses. The first introductory part covers the basic theory, connections with algebraic geometry, computational aspects, and extensions to module theory. The more advanced second part covers material such as associated primes and primary decomposition, local rings, M-sequences and Cohen-Macaulay modules, and homological methods.

The primary audience for this book is students and the young researchers interested in the core of the discipline. Commutative algebra is by and large a self-contained discipline, which makes it quite dry for the beginner with a basic training in elementary algebra and calculus. A stable mathematical discipline such as this enshrines a vital number of topics to be learned at an early stage, more or less universally accepted and practiced. Naturally, authors tend to turn these topics into an increasingly short and elegant list of basic facts of the theory. So, the shorter the better....