...
So Hungerford is more of a textbook for basic stuff and Lang more of a baby research reference. One tries to address the beginning grad student on his level, and the other tries to raise that level to nearer what it needs to be.
...
Trying to give the proofs of any theorem without reading the proof first, is a habit every student should acquire, in every book, and even every paper. That's how you learn to be a mathematician as opposed to remaining a student. So Lang is teaching you as if you want to become a mathematician, and Hungerford is teaching you as if you are a beginning student.
...
I would put DF noticeably below Hungerford in sophistication and depth. I.e. what used to be considered a basic book for average grad students, namely Hungerford, has now become considered a more difficult book, replaced for average students by DF. Lang on the other hand is almost never considered as a text anymore, as if it were some otherworldly and unrealistic book. I think, recalling using them both now, that one needs both Lang and Hungerford. Lang has the right point of view, and the right topics, and Hungerford has the examples that flesh out the basic topics. I thought DF looked appealing at first review, but now actually using it, I find it so verbose as to obscure the topics rather than illuminate them.