A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The annotation example on the page is incorrect. There is an extra semi-colon after the "String date()" declaration.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
/**
 * Describes the Request-For-Enhancement(RFE) that led
 * to the presence of the annotated API element.
 */
public @interface RequestForEnhancement {
    int id();
    String synopsis();
    String engineer() default "[unassigned]";
    String date() default "[unimplemented]";
}
ACTUAL -
/**
 * Describes the Request-For-Enhancement(RFE) that led
 * to the presence of the annotated API element.
 */
public @interface RequestForEnhancement {
    int id();
    String synopsis();
    String engineer() default "[unassigned]";
    String date(); default "[unimplemented]";
}

URL OF FAULTY DOCUMENTATION :
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html
###@###.### 2005-05-16 21:03:23 GMT
This seems to have been fixed in 6 and 7 docs.
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/language/annotations.html