Escaping the [CODE] tag

[cicatrix]

When I want to tell somebody to use CODE tag how do I escape it?

I tried using \ and /, adding html escapes, but nothing works
The only way to actually display the opening and closing of code tags in my post is enclosing them into HTML tag like this:

[CODE]...[/CODE]

Is there a better way (I mean without html code and separate grey area, but just in text)?

Also, is there a bbcode for displaying a strikethrough text (in some forums they use [s]...[/s] for that)?