IMPROVED PATTERN MATCHING

A computer implemented method to determine whether a verification is to be performed of the satisfaction of one or more mapping conditions mapping a first state in a first pattern matching automaton to a second state in the first automaton, the verification being based on patterns matched by a second pattern matching automaton having states corresponding to wildcard symbols in the first automaton, the method comprising: associating, with the first state, a minimum number of patterns required to be matched by the second automaton to satisfy a mapping condition of the state; providing a pattern match counter in association with the second automaton, the counter being arranged to count a number of patterns matched by the second automaton; providing a verifier in association with the first automaton, the verifier being arranged to perform the verification, the verifier being responsive to the counter.