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You can use a comma in any subexpression, but in most cases it only makes the code confusing, and it is clearer to raise all but the last of the comma-separated expressions to a higher level. Thus, instead of this:
x = (y += 4, 8);
it is much clearer to write this:
y += 4, x = 8;
or this:
y += 4; x = 8;
Use commas only in the cases where there is no clearer alternative involving multiple statements.
By contrast, don’t hesitate to use commas in the expansion in a macro definition. The trade-offs of code clarity are different in that case, because the use of the macro may improve overall clarity so much that the ugliness of the macro’s definition is a small price to pay. See Macros.