I've taken a "deadlock" sample from a java Sun tutorial page and
modified it slightly. It's exhibiting some behavior that I find
unexpected.

Here is the sample code. Keep in mind that it's supposed to deadlock.

public class Deadlock {
   static class Friend {
       private final String name;
       public Friend(String name) {
           this.name = name;
       }
       public String getName() {
           return this.name;
       }
       public synchronized void step1(Friend thefriend) {
           System.out.println(this.name + "    : locked by: " +
this.name);
           System.out.println(this.name + "    : trying to get lock
on: " + thefriend.getName());
           thefriend.step2(this);
           System.out.println(this.name + "    : released lock on: " +
thefriend.getName());
       }
       public synchronized void step2(Friend thefriend) {
           System.out.println(this.name + "    : locked by " +
thefriend.getName());
       }
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {

       System.out.println("There are two separate locks involved
here.");
       System.out.println("One lock is for the 'Bob' object, and one
for the 'Roberts' object");
       System.out.println("");

       final Friend bob = new Friend("Bob");
       final Friend roberts = new Friend("Roberts");

       new Thread(new Runnable() {
           public void run() { bob.step1(roberts); }
       }).start();

       new Thread(new Runnable() {
           public void run() { roberts.step1(bob); }
       }).start();
   }
}

Note the three System calls in main. If the System calls are present,
the code will execute and NO deadlock will occur (95% of the time...).
If I take out the System calls, the deadlock occurs as expected nearly
100% of the time.

I don't know much about JVMs and Java in general. This was a learning
exercise. Can someone give me a
reasonable explanation of why adding the System calls before any
objects are even created, might cause timing
issues that would throw off the deadlock?

I'm a bit at a loss here...

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

-Bob