以下是基于上述答案的swift 3.0解决方案:

    for (i, point) in allPoints.enumerated() {
        let nextPoint = i == allPoints.count - 1 ? allPoints[0] : allPoints[i+1]
        signedArea += (point.x * nextPoint.y - nextPoint.x * point.y)
    }

    let clockwise  = signedArea < 0

下面是基于这个答案的一个简单的Python 3实现(反过来，它是基于已接受答案中提出的解决方案)

def is_clockwise(points):
    # points is your list (or array) of 2d points.
    assert len(points) > 0
    s = 0.0
    for p1, p2 in zip(points, points[1:] + [points[0]]):
        s += (p2[0] - p1[0]) * (p2[1] + p1[1])
    return s > 0.0

我认为为了使某些点顺时针方向，所有的边都必须是正的而不仅仅是边的和。如果一条边是负的，则逆时针方向给出至少3个点。

正如这篇维基百科文章中所解释的曲线方向，给定平面上的3个点p, q和r(即x和y坐标)，您可以计算以下行列式的符号

如果行列式为负(即定向(p, q, r) < 0)，则多边形是顺时针方向(CW)。如果行列式为正(即定向(p, q, r) > 0)，则多边形是逆时针方向(CCW)。如果点p, q和r共线，行列式为零(即定向(p, q, r) == 0)。

在上面的公式中，由于我们使用的是齐次坐标，我们将1放在p, q和r的坐标前面。

Javascript实现的lhf的答案 (再次强调，这只适用于简单的多边形，即不适用于图8)

let polygon = [ {x:5,y:0}, {x:6,y:4}, {x:4,y:5}, {x:1,y:5}, {x:1,y:0} ] document.body.innerHTML += `Polygon ${polygon.map(p=>`(${p.x}, ${p.y})`).join(", ")} is clockwise? ${isPolygonClockwise(polygon)}` let reversePolygon = [] polygon.forEach(point=>reversePolygon.unshift(point)) document.body.innerHTML += `<br/>Polygon ${reversePolygon.map(p=>`(${p.x}, ${p.y})`).join(", ")} is clockwise? ${isPolygonClockwise(reversePolygon)}` function isPolygonClockwise (polygon) { // From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/graphics/algorithms-faq/ "How do I find the orientation of a simple polygon?" // THIS SOMETIMES FAILS if the polygon is a figure 8, or similar shape where it crosses over itself // Take the lowest point (break ties with the right-most). if (polygon.length < 3) { return true // A single point or two points can't be clockwise/counterclockwise } let previousPoint = polygon[0] let lowestPoint = polygon[1] let nextPoint = polygon[2] polygon.forEach((point, index)=>{ if (point.y > lowestPoint.y || (point.y === lowestPoint.y && point.x > lowestPoint.x)) { // larger y values are lower, in svgs // Break ties with furthest right previousPoint = polygon[(index-1) >= (0) ? (index-1) : (polygon.length-1)] lowestPoint = polygon[index] nextPoint = polygon[(index+1) <= (polygon.length-1) ? (index+1) : (0)] } }) // Check the angle between the previous point, that point, and the next point. // If the angle is less than PI radians, the polygon is clockwise let angle = findAngle(previousPoint, lowestPoint, nextPoint) return angle < Math.PI } function findAngle(A,B,C) { var AB = Math.atan2(B.y-A.y, B.x-A.x); var BC = Math.atan2(C.y-B.y, C.x-B.x); if (AB < 0) AB += Math.PI*2 if (BC < 0) BC += Math.PI*2 return BC-AB; }

The cross product measures the degree of perpendicular-ness of two vectors. Imagine that each edge of your polygon is a vector in the x-y plane of a three-dimensional (3-D) xyz space. Then the cross product of two successive edges is a vector in the z-direction, (positive z-direction if the second segment is clockwise, minus z-direction if it's counter-clockwise). The magnitude of this vector is proportional to the sine of the angle between the two original edges, so it reaches a maximum when they are perpendicular, and tapers off to disappear when the edges are collinear (parallel).

因此，对于多边形的每个顶点(点)，计算两条相邻边的叉乘大小:

Using your data:
point[0] = (5, 0)
point[1] = (6, 4)
point[2] = (4, 5)
point[3] = (1, 5)
point[4] = (1, 0)

把边连续地标为 edgeA是从point0到point1的段 点1到点2之间的edgeB .．. edgeE在point4和point0之间。

那么顶点A (point0)在两者之间 edgeE[从点4到点0] 从point0到' point1'

这两条边本身就是向量，它们的x坐标和y坐标可以通过减去它们的起点和终点的坐标来确定:

edgeE = point0 - point4 = (1,0) - (5,0) = (- 4,0) and edgeA = point1 - point0 = (6,4) - (1,0) = (5,4) and

这两个相邻边的外积是用下面矩阵的行列式来计算的，这个矩阵是通过将两个向量的坐标放在表示三个坐标轴的符号(i, j， & k)下面来构造的。第三个(零)值坐标在那里，因为外积概念是一个三维结构，所以我们将这些2-D向量扩展到3-D，以便应用外积:

 i    j    k 
-4    0    0
 1    4    0    

假设所有的叉乘都产生一个垂直于两个向量相乘平面的向量，上面矩阵的行列式只有一个k(或z轴)分量。 计算k轴或z轴分量大小的公式为 A1 *b2 - a2*b1 = -4* 4 - 0* 1 = -16

这个值的大小(-16)是两个原始向量夹角的正弦值，乘以两个向量大小的乘积。 实际上，它值的另一个公式是 A X B(叉乘)= |A| * |B| * sin(AB)。

为了得到角度的大小你需要用这个值(-16)除以两个向量大小的乘积。

|A| * |B| = 4 *根号(17)= 16.4924…

所以sin(AB) = -16 / 16.4924 = -.97014…

这是一个度量顶点后的下一段是否向左或向右弯曲，以及弯曲的程度。不需要取arcsin函数。我们只关心它的大小，当然还有它的符号(正的还是负的)!

对闭合路径周围的其他4个点都这样做，并将每个顶点的计算值相加。

如果最终的和是正的，就顺时针，负的，逆时针。