Abstract: A machine code generating system for improved pattern matching in a protocol analyzer. The code generating system includes a pattern relationship analysis phase and a pattern matching code generation phase. The pattern relationship analysis phase includes evaluating pairs of test patterns to determine the relationship that exists between each pair such as superset, subset, independent, external, and identical. The pattern matching code generation phase includes generating general pattern matching code in addition to generating specialized comparison code that is specific to the types of relationships that exist among a given set of patterns. The machine code that is generated, organizes the patterns into groups to minimize the number of pattern matching comparisons required to a minimum defined in the average case as the sum of the number of patterns and the maximum number of words per pattern.