Proper grammar in any style of writing is not like riding a bike; if you leave it for a while it is hard to pick it back up. Comma use is particularly susceptible to this. It often feels like no matter how much we write, we can always stand to revisit comma use.
Here are a few particular cases where commas are used frequently in technical writing.
Setting Off Introductory Phrases
We give a pause after introductory phrases before continuing into their associated independent clause. Some think a colon is the best way to do this, but the comma is the proper choice.
For example, this very sentence is a good application of using a comma to set off an introductory phrase.
Separating Independent Clauses
If we have two ideas in a sentence that could exist on their own, we use a connecting comma before the conjunction (and, for, or,). That is not to say that we put a comma before every conjunction we use. We only want to use the comma to separate the two ideas but keep them in the same sentence. A quick way to figure out if you need the comma is to take out the conjunction and look at the part after the comma reading it as though it was its own sentence. If it makes sense, then use the comma.
The Oxford Comma: an AKA Tradition
When writing out a series of items in a sentence, we use a comma after each item finishing it with a comma before the ending conjunction.
Advanced generator protection is a leading design in; fault tolerance, blackout recovery, and rig stability.
The Oxford comma is the one just before the ‘and’ in the above example.