why is doc comment used in java code example

Example: java what are the comments before a method

/**
* Returns an Image object that can then be painted on the screen. 
* The url argument must specify an absolute <a href="#{@link}">{@link URL}</a>. 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) {
try {
return getImage(new URL(url, name));
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
return null;
}
}