Let me clear up a common misconception. When most people say writing in code, what they really mean is writing using a cipher. A code is when a symbol, word, or phrase is used to stand for a different word, phrase, or sentence. A cipher is were each letter in a word is represented with a different letter or symbol.
The dash is a punctuation mark that is similar to a hyphen or minus sign, but differs from both of these symbols primarily in length and function.
To display a dash (-) as the first character in a cell in Microsoft Excel (so it isnât interpreted as a mathematical symbol), prefix the dash with an apostrophe, like so: '- This value begins with a dash.