What is the difference between “npm update -g”, “n

Question

My npm seems out of date, so it seems I could use 4 ways to update it:

sudo npm update -g          # => npm 3.8.6
sudo npm upgrade -g         # => npm 3.8.7
sudo npm install -g npm
sudo npm cache clean -f && sudo npm install -g n && sudo n stable

some method above installed npm 3.8.6, and some installed 3.8.7, and the last one by n installed 3.8.3.

What are the differences between these methods and is there a standard way / official way to do it?

(the 3.8.6 and 3.8.7 difference was on my Macbook 12 inch Retina with El Capitan. It wasn't so on my Macbook Pro with Mavericks)

Answer 1

What those commands do:

1. sudo npm update -g - this command updates all installed global packages to the the latest versions.
2. sudo npm upgrade -g - it's an alias for update command.
3. sudo npm install -g npm - installs the latest available version of npm package.
4. sudo npm cache clean -f && sudo npm install -g n && sudo n stable - cleans the npm cache, installs n (node version manager) and the latest available node.js and npm.

So, if you need update npm to the latest version only, use sudo npm install -g npm, if you want to update and node and npm, use sudo npm cache clean -f && sudo npm install -g n && sudo n stable.