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.
Select a section... Hyphens and DashesâThe Long and the Short of It. The hyphen, the em dash and the en dash are the straight arrows among punctuation marks, an otherwise fairly curvaceous lot. The hyphen (-), the shortest of the three marks, is familiar (sometimes wretchedly so) to most writers. So is the em dash (â), more often called the long dash, or sometimes just the dash.