I see you can download nodejs via homepage or install via homebrew or via macports.

which is the best method?

Is there a reason for choosing one over the other?

Some things I consider: 1. Ease of upgrading to latest version 2. Ability to (fully) remove and uninstall 3. 1 and 2 should leave no trace of old version (including any temp files), or in case of uninstalling, should fully remove everything.
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3 Answers

I prefer to use brew.

once installed its as easy as:

brew install node

Done and done.

Don't want it anymore?

brew uninstall node

Need to upgrade?

brew upgrade node

Plus, its based on git and the community is very active. Furthermore, the packages that are installed are always in one place, then symlinked to your /usr/local/bin, so no messy sudo or multiple install locations.

Checkout the site here

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Use the Mac OS X Installer as upgrading is easier in the future.

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I personally like to compile from source.

You can use NVM for upgrades and downgrades and even switching between different versions at any moment!

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