答案取决于你用的是简单多边形还是复杂多边形。简单多边形不能有任何线段交点。所以它们可以有洞，但线不能交叉。复杂区域可以有直线交点，所以它们可以有重叠的区域，或者只有一点相交的区域。

对于简单多边形，最好的算法是光线投射(交叉数)算法。对于复杂多边形，该算法不检测重叠区域内的点。所以对于复杂多边形你必须使用圈数算法。

下面是一篇用C实现这两种算法的优秀文章。我试过了，效果不错。

http://geomalgorithms.com/a03-_inclusion.html

我知道这是旧的，但这里是一个在Cocoa实现的光线投射算法，如果有人感兴趣的话。不确定这是最有效的方法，但它可能会帮助别人。

- (BOOL)shape:(NSBezierPath *)path containsPoint:(NSPoint)point
{
    NSBezierPath *currentPath = [path bezierPathByFlatteningPath];
    BOOL result;
    float aggregateX = 0; //I use these to calculate the centroid of the shape
    float aggregateY = 0;
    NSPoint firstPoint[1];
    [currentPath elementAtIndex:0 associatedPoints:firstPoint];
    float olderX = firstPoint[0].x;
    float olderY = firstPoint[0].y;
    NSPoint interPoint;
    int noOfIntersections = 0;

    for (int n = 0; n < [currentPath elementCount]; n++) {
        NSPoint points[1];
        [currentPath elementAtIndex:n associatedPoints:points];
        aggregateX += points[0].x;
        aggregateY += points[0].y;
    }

    for (int n = 0; n < [currentPath elementCount]; n++) {
        NSPoint points[1];

        [currentPath elementAtIndex:n associatedPoints:points];
        //line equations in Ax + By = C form
        float _A_FOO = (aggregateY/[currentPath elementCount]) - point.y;  
        float _B_FOO = point.x - (aggregateX/[currentPath elementCount]);
        float _C_FOO = (_A_FOO * point.x) + (_B_FOO * point.y);

        float _A_BAR = olderY - points[0].y;
        float _B_BAR = points[0].x - olderX;
        float _C_BAR = (_A_BAR * olderX) + (_B_BAR * olderY);

        float det = (_A_FOO * _B_BAR) - (_A_BAR * _B_FOO);
        if (det != 0) {
            //intersection points with the edges
            float xIntersectionPoint = ((_B_BAR * _C_FOO) - (_B_FOO * _C_BAR)) / det;
            float yIntersectionPoint = ((_A_FOO * _C_BAR) - (_A_BAR * _C_FOO)) / det;
            interPoint = NSMakePoint(xIntersectionPoint, yIntersectionPoint);
            if (olderX <= points[0].x) {
                //doesn't matter in which direction the ray goes, so I send it right-ward.
                if ((interPoint.x >= olderX && interPoint.x <= points[0].x) && (interPoint.x > point.x)) {  
                    noOfIntersections++;
                }
            } else {
                if ((interPoint.x >= points[0].x && interPoint.x <= olderX) && (interPoint.x > point.x)) {
                     noOfIntersections++;
                } 
            }
        }
        olderX = points[0].x;
        olderY = points[0].y;
    }
    if (noOfIntersections % 2 == 0) {
        result = FALSE;
    } else {
        result = TRUE;
    }
    return result;
}

如果你正在寻找一个java脚本库，有一个javascript谷歌maps v3扩展的Polygon类，以检测是否有一个点驻留在它里面。

var polygon = new google.maps.Polygon([], "#000000", 1, 1, "#336699", 0.3);
var isWithinPolygon = polygon.containsLatLng(40, -90);

谷歌扩展Github

令人惊讶的是之前没有人提出这个问题，但是对于需要数据库的实用主义者来说:MongoDB对Geo查询提供了出色的支持，包括这个查询。

你需要的是:

db.neighborhoods。findOne({geometry: {$geoIntersects: {$geometry: { type: "Point"，坐标:["经度"，"纬度"]}}} })

communities是存储一个或多个标准GeoJson格式多边形的集合。如果查询返回null，则表示不相交，否则为。

这里有详细的记录: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/geospatial-tutorial/

在330个不规则多边形网格中，超过6000个点分类的性能不到一分钟，没有任何优化，包括用各自的多边形更新文档的时间。

真的很喜欢Nirg发布的解决方案，由bobobobo编辑。我只是让它javascript友好，更容易读懂我的使用:

function insidePoly(poly, pointx, pointy) {
    var i, j;
    var inside = false;
    for (i = 0, j = poly.length - 1; i < poly.length; j = i++) {
        if(((poly[i].y > pointy) != (poly[j].y > pointy)) && (pointx < (poly[j].x-poly[i].x) * (pointy-poly[i].y) / (poly[j].y-poly[i].y) + poly[i].x) ) inside = !inside;
    }
    return inside;
}

Obj-C版本nirg的答案与样本方法测试点。Nirg的回答对我很有效。

- (BOOL)isPointInPolygon:(NSArray *)vertices point:(CGPoint)test {
    NSUInteger nvert = [vertices count];
    NSInteger i, j, c = 0;
    CGPoint verti, vertj;

    for (i = 0, j = nvert-1; i < nvert; j = i++) {
        verti = [(NSValue *)[vertices objectAtIndex:i] CGPointValue];
        vertj = [(NSValue *)[vertices objectAtIndex:j] CGPointValue];
        if (( (verti.y > test.y) != (vertj.y > test.y) ) &&
        ( test.x < ( vertj.x - verti.x ) * ( test.y - verti.y ) / ( vertj.y - verti.y ) + verti.x) )
            c = !c;
    }

    return (c ? YES : NO);
}

- (void)testPoint {

    NSArray *polygonVertices = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(13.5, 41.5)],
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(42.5, 56.5)],
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(39.5, 69.5)],
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(42.5, 84.5)],
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(13.5, 100.0)],
        [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(6.0, 70.5)],
        nil
    ];

    CGPoint tappedPoint = CGPointMake(23.0, 70.0);

    if ([self isPointInPolygon:polygonVertices point:tappedPoint]) {
        NSLog(@"YES");
    } else {
        NSLog(@"NO");
    }
}