numeric-expression  (- | minus)  numeric-expression

The subtraction operator. The preferred form is -.

Note: Since the hyphen used in variable names is the same as the minus sign, programmers should be careful to separate the minus sign from names. To be safe, a space should be placed on either side of the minus sign.

Each line in this sample is an example of the use of the subtraction operator. Note that in this context minus can be used as a synonym for the "-" sign.

  43. - 967
  12 - 19 - -35
  a - b   ; each letter being a local counter variable
  a minus b   ;each letter being a local counter variable