How Exactly Does @param Work - Java

@param is a special format comment used by javadoc to generate documentation. it is used to denote a description of the parameter (or parameters) a method can receive. there's also @return and @see used to describe return values and related information, respectively:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/documentation/index-137868.html#format

has, among other things, this:

/**
 * Returns an Image object that can then be painted on the screen. 
 * The url argument must specify an absolute {@link URL}. The name
 * argument is a specifier that is relative to the url argument. 
 * <p>
 * This method always returns immediately, whether or not the 
 * image exists. When this applet attempts to draw the image on
 * the screen, the data will be loaded. The graphics primitives 
 * that draw the image will incrementally paint on the screen. 
 *
 * @param  url  an absolute URL giving the base location of the image
 * @param  name the location of the image, relative to the url argument
 * @return      the image at the specified URL
 * @see         Image
 */
 public Image getImage(URL url, String name) {