creation of forum

@ravi_kos — for a college forum the decision is more about requirements than language. Key things to decide up front: how users will authenticate (campus SSO / LDAP / local accounts), whether forums are course-linked or faculty-moderated, spam control and moderation workflows, mobile/responsiveness, file attachment and privacy needs, and who will maintain backups and upgrades.

If you want off-the-shelf options, consider a shortlist that matches those requirements rather than the underlying tech alone. Modern, opinionated choices include Discourse (rich features, SSO/LDAP support, hosted or Docker-based self-host), and Flarum (lightweight PHP with extensions). Classic PHP boards like phpBB are stable and easy to host (phpBB), while NodeBB offers a Node.js real-time experience. If the site already runs WordPress, bbPress keeps things simple. Each of these has tradeoffs: Discourse gives the best modern UX but needs Docker and more resources; Flarum/phpBB are lighter and familiar to PHP admins.

Responding to @ThinkFree: if you must stay on a Java stack, look at servlet-based projects (for example JForum) or integrate forum functionality into a portal (Liferay) — Java options exist but are fewer and often heavier to run than mainstream PHP/Node/Ruby projects. Whatever you pick, verify SSO (LDAP/CAS/SAML) support if you need campus account integration.

Practical next steps: list strict requirements, pick two candidates, run quick pilots on a VPS, test authentication/migration/export, set up SSL and automated backups, and document moderation rules. @kvprajapati was right to point toward open-source options — prefer projects with recent commits and active communities so updates and security fixes keep coming.