When using the Vim editor for programming forth there are a number of features in Vim that makes programming easier.

First there is of course the syntax highlighting. If that is enabled and the source filename ends with .fs or .ft, the source in the editor is shown in different fonts and/or colors, depending on the type of the word. If your filename ends with a different extension, you can change in the $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim the extensions for forth.

Second there is the editing with tabs. Every file you load, is shown in a different tab. While this is not specific for forth, it is a very nice feature. Opening a new file in a tab is done with: :tabedit filename. During inserting you can go to the next tab with Ctrl-PgDn.

Third there is the starting of forth during an edit session. By entering :!gforth % -e bye the current file is saved, Gforth is started with the file and when the source is compiled and optional executed, Gforth is stopped. It is an easy way to check the editted code.

Fourth there is the use of a tag file. If you start Gforth with the tags.fs file, present in the Gforth distribution, then all following forth definitions will be stored in a local tags file. This local tags file can be used by Vim to jump directly to the definition of the word under the cursor. So move the cursor to the word and press Ctrl-]. The file with the definition of the word is loaded and the cursor is moved to the definition. You can go back to the original location with Ctrl-T. If you are using the Forth Foundation Library you can make a tags file from this library by entering gforth ffl/make.fs. The make.fs file includes the tags.fs and then loads all words from the FFL. This will only work for Gforth.

Fifth there is the automatic indentation during entering of forth code. In the current release of vim there isn't an indent file for forth. I made a simple indent file for forth. You should put this file in the $VIMRUNTIME/indent directory and make sure that there is a line with :filetype indent on in your vimrc file.