[rabidrat]

It teaches you to set things up so that the code doesn't have to do stack manipulations and other minutiae in the typical case. Most other languages seem to encourage modules with general APIs and hard boundaries so that the caller has to unpack/repack/rearrange the data as it enters and leaves. Forth very deliberately encourages developing a holistic system, and it discourages wholesale code reuse from other projects and systems, which gives you the power and flexibility to refactor relentlessly, until only the essence of the computational solution remains.

Forth is definitely a difficult language to work with, particularly in a professional environment where managing turnover is massively important. When I dive in to some Forth code that I've written, to make even the smallest of changes, my brain has to be fully engaged, and that's a non-starter in most environments (Chuck probably thinks this is a good thing; why are we making changes to code we don't understand?). But I am still an avid proponent of learning and applying the principles of Forth, because of the results that it makes possible. It is quite eye-opening to see directly how a system can become 10x as powerful, with 1/10th of the code, if you are willing to do the work and embrace the "minimalist" (I would call it "essentialist") mindset.