Abstract: A system and method are provided that allow for improved code sequence verification through the use of an abstract syntax tree. This is accomplished by first constructing an abstract syntax tree from the code sequence and then determining whether the abstract syntax tree satisfies a predefined set of conditions indicative of the code sequence being executable on the computer without generating a predefined class of execution errors. The abstract syntax tree is constructed by reassembling the code sequence into a plurality of instructions, combining the instructions into a plurality of blocks, examining the blocks to determine entry points of a plurality of loops, and tagging locations in the series of instructions where control is transferred at the end of each loop. The instructions, blocks, loops and tagged locations are then examined to generate a plurality of control structures (the coarse structure).