[python] What is the most compatible way to install python modules on a Mac?

Your question is already three years old and there are some details not covered in other answers:

Most people I know use HomeBrew or MacPorts, I prefer MacPorts because of its clean cut of what is a default Mac OS X environment and my development setup. Just move out your /opt folder and test your packages with a normal user Python environment

MacPorts is only portable within Mac, but with easy_install or pip you will learn how to setup your environment in any platform (Win/Mac/Linux/Bsd...). Furthermore it will always be more up to date and with more packages

I personally let MacPorts handle my Python modules to keep everything updated. Like any other high level package manager (ie: apt-get) it is much better for the heavy lifting of modules with lots of binary dependencies. There is no way I would build my Qt bindings (PySide) with easy_install or pip. Qt is huge and takes a lot to compile. As soon as you want a Python package that needs a library used by non Python programs, try to avoid easy_install or pip

At some point you will find that there are some packages missing within MacPorts. I do not believe that MacPorts will ever give you the whole CheeseShop. For example, recently I needed the Elixir module, but MacPorts only offers py25-elixir and py26-elixir, no py27 version. In cases like these you have:

pip-2.7 install --user elixir

( make sure you always type pip-(version) )

That will build an extra Python library in your home dir. Yes, Python will work with more than one library location: one controlled by MacPorts and a user local one for everything missing within MacPorts.

Now notice that I favor pip over easy_install. There is a good reason you should avoid setuptools and easy_install. Here is a good explanation and I try to keep away from them. One very useful feature of pip is giving you a list of all the modules (along their versions) that you installed with MacPorts, easy_install and pip itself:

pip-2.7 freeze

If you already started using easy_install, don't worry, pip can recognize everything done already by easy_install and even upgrade the packages installed with it.

If you are a developer keep an eye on virtualenv for controlling different setups and combinations of module versions. Other answers mention it already, what is not mentioned so far is the Tox module, a tool for testing that your package installs correctly with different Python versions.

Although I usually do not have version conflicts, I like to have virtualenv to set up a clean environment and get a clear view of my packages dependencies. That way I never forget any dependencies in my setup.py

If you go for MacPorts be aware that multiple versions of the same package are not selected anymore like the old Debian style with an extra python_select package (it is still there for compatibility). Now you have the select command to choose which Python version will be used (you can even select the Apple installed ones):

$  port select python
Available versions for python:
    none
    python25-apple
    python26-apple
    python27 (active)
    python27-apple
    python32

$ port select python python32

Add tox on top of it and your programs should be really portable

Examples related to python

programming a servo thru a barometer Is there a way to view two blocks of code from the same file simultaneously in Sublime Text? python variable NameError Why my regexp for hyphenated words doesn't work? Comparing a variable with a string python not working when redirecting from bash script is it possible to add colors to python output? Get Public URL for File - Google Cloud Storage - App Engine (Python) Real time face detection OpenCV, Python xlrd.biffh.XLRDError: Excel xlsx file; not supported Could not load dynamic library 'cudart64_101.dll' on tensorflow CPU-only installation

Examples related to macos

Problems with installation of Google App Engine SDK for php in OS X dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/libssl.1.0.0.dylib dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/icu4c/lib/libicui18n.62.dylib error running php after installing node with brew on Mac Could not install packages due to an EnvironmentError: [Errno 13] How do I install Java on Mac OSX allowing version switching? Git is not working after macOS Update (xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools) Can't compile C program on a Mac after upgrade to Mojave You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0 directory. (mac user) How can I install a previous version of Python 3 in macOS using homebrew? Could not install packages due to a "Environment error :[error 13]: permission denied : 'usr/local/bin/f2py'"

Examples related to module

How to fix: fatal error: openssl/opensslv.h: No such file or directory in RedHat 7 How to import functions from different js file in a Vue+webpack+vue-loader project Typescript ReferenceError: exports is not defined ImportError: No module named tensorflow ModuleNotFoundError: What does it mean __main__ is not a package? ES6 modules in the browser: Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token import module.exports vs. export default in Node.js and ES6 What's the difference between an Angular component and module Export multiple classes in ES6 modules Python - Module Not Found

Examples related to packages

How to install Python packages from the tar.gz file without using pip install Package name does not correspond to the file path - IntelliJ Can I force pip to reinstall the current version? The import android.support cannot be resolved How to solve java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError? How to list all installed packages and their versions in Python? Importing packages in Java Check for installed packages before running install.packages() How do I find a list of Homebrew's installable packages? Installing a local module using npm?

Examples related to macports

pip installs packages successfully, but executables not found from command line What is the difference/usage of homebrew, macports or other package installation tools? Xcode is not currently available from the Software Update server sudo: port: command not found How do I upgrade PHP in Mac OS X? What is the most compatible way to install python modules on a Mac?