这是一个基于向量数学的;这个解决方案也适用于更高的维度，并报告交点(在线段上)。

def dist(x1,y1,x2,y2,px,py):
    a = np.array([[x1,y1]]).T
    b = np.array([[x2,y2]]).T
    x = np.array([[px,py]]).T
    tp = (np.dot(x.T, b) - np.dot(a.T, b)) / np.dot(b.T, b)
    tp = tp[0][0]
    tmp = x - (a + tp*b)
    d = np.sqrt(np.dot(tmp.T,tmp)[0][0])
    return d, a+tp*b

x1,y1=2.,2.
x2,y2=5.,5.
px,py=4.,1.

d, inters = dist(x1,y1, x2,y2, px,py)
print (d)
print (inters)

结果是

2.1213203435596424
[[2.5]
 [2.5]]

这里解释了数学

https://brilliant.org/wiki/distance-between-point-and-line/

以下是Grumdrig解决方案的一个更完整的说明。这个版本还返回最近的点本身。

#include "stdio.h"
#include "math.h"

class Vec2
{
public:
    float _x;
    float _y;

    Vec2()
    {
        _x = 0;
        _y = 0;
    }

    Vec2( const float x, const float y )
    {
        _x = x;
        _y = y;
    }

    Vec2 operator+( const Vec2 &v ) const
    {
        return Vec2( this->_x + v._x, this->_y + v._y );
    }

    Vec2 operator-( const Vec2 &v ) const
    {
        return Vec2( this->_x - v._x, this->_y - v._y );
    }

    Vec2 operator*( const float f ) const
    {
        return Vec2( this->_x * f, this->_y * f );
    }

    float DistanceToSquared( const Vec2 p ) const
    {
        const float dX = p._x - this->_x;
        const float dY = p._y - this->_y;

        return dX * dX + dY * dY;
    }

    float DistanceTo( const Vec2 p ) const
    {
        return sqrt( this->DistanceToSquared( p ) );
    }

    float DotProduct( const Vec2 p ) const
    {
        return this->_x * p._x + this->_y * p._y;
    }
};

// return minimum distance between line segment vw and point p, and the closest point on the line segment, q
float DistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( const Vec2 v, const Vec2 w, const Vec2 p, Vec2 * const q )
{
    const float distSq = v.DistanceToSquared( w ); // i.e. |w-v|^2 ... avoid a sqrt
    if ( distSq == 0.0 )
    {
        // v == w case
        (*q) = v;

        return v.DistanceTo( p );
    }

    // consider the line extending the segment, parameterized as v + t (w - v)
    // we find projection of point p onto the line
    // it falls where t = [(p-v) . (w-v)] / |w-v|^2

    const float t = ( p - v ).DotProduct( w - v ) / distSq;
    if ( t < 0.0 )
    {
        // beyond the v end of the segment
        (*q) = v;

        return v.DistanceTo( p );
    }
    else if ( t > 1.0 )
    {
        // beyond the w end of the segment
        (*q) = w;

        return w.DistanceTo( p );
    }

    // projection falls on the segment
    const Vec2 projection = v + ( ( w - v ) * t );

    (*q) = projection;

    return p.DistanceTo( projection );
}

float DistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( float segmentX1, float segmentY1, float segmentX2, float segmentY2, float pX, float pY, float *qX, float *qY )
{
    Vec2 q;

    float distance = DistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( Vec2( segmentX1, segmentY1 ), Vec2( segmentX2, segmentY2 ), Vec2( pX, pY ), &q );

    (*qX) = q._x;
    (*qY) = q._y;

    return distance;
}

void TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( float segmentX1, float segmentY1, float segmentX2, float segmentY2, float pX, float pY )
{
    float qX;
    float qY;
    float d = DistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( segmentX1, segmentY1, segmentX2, segmentY2, pX, pY, &qX, &qY );
    printf( "line segment = ( ( %f, %f ), ( %f, %f ) ), p = ( %f, %f ), distance = %f, q = ( %f, %f )\n",
            segmentX1, segmentY1, segmentX2, segmentY2, pX, pY, d, qX, qY );
}

void TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint()
{
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0 );
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 20, 10, 5, 4 );
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 20, 10, 30, 15 );
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 20, 10, -30, 15 );
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 10, 0, 5, 1 );
    TestDistanceFromLineSegmentToPoint( 0, 0, 0, 10, 1, 5 );
}

在我自己的问题线程如何计算在C, c# / .NET 2.0或Java的所有情况下一个点和线段之间的最短2D距离?当我找到一个c#的答案时，我被要求把它放在这里:所以它是从http://www.topcoder.com/tc?d1=tutorials&d2=geometry1&module=Static修改的:

//Compute the dot product AB . BC
private double DotProduct(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC)
{
    double[] AB = new double[2];
    double[] BC = new double[2];
    AB[0] = pointB[0] - pointA[0];
    AB[1] = pointB[1] - pointA[1];
    BC[0] = pointC[0] - pointB[0];
    BC[1] = pointC[1] - pointB[1];
    double dot = AB[0] * BC[0] + AB[1] * BC[1];

    return dot;
}

//Compute the cross product AB x AC
private double CrossProduct(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC)
{
    double[] AB = new double[2];
    double[] AC = new double[2];
    AB[0] = pointB[0] - pointA[0];
    AB[1] = pointB[1] - pointA[1];
    AC[0] = pointC[0] - pointA[0];
    AC[1] = pointC[1] - pointA[1];
    double cross = AB[0] * AC[1] - AB[1] * AC[0];

    return cross;
}

//Compute the distance from A to B
double Distance(double[] pointA, double[] pointB)
{
    double d1 = pointA[0] - pointB[0];
    double d2 = pointA[1] - pointB[1];

    return Math.Sqrt(d1 * d1 + d2 * d2);
}

//Compute the distance from AB to C
//if isSegment is true, AB is a segment, not a line.
double LineToPointDistance2D(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC, 
    bool isSegment)
{
    double dist = CrossProduct(pointA, pointB, pointC) / Distance(pointA, pointB);
    if (isSegment)
    {
        double dot1 = DotProduct(pointA, pointB, pointC);
        if (dot1 > 0) 
            return Distance(pointB, pointC);

        double dot2 = DotProduct(pointB, pointA, pointC);
        if (dot2 > 0) 
            return Distance(pointA, pointC);
    }
    return Math.Abs(dist);
} 

我不是要回答问题，而是要问问题，所以我希望我不会因为某些原因而得到数百万张反对票，而是批评。我只是想(并被鼓励)分享其他人的想法，因为这个帖子中的解决方案要么是用一些奇异的语言(Fortran, Mathematica)，要么被某人标记为错误。对我来说唯一有用的(由Grumdrig编写)是用c++编写的，没有人标记它有错误。但是它缺少被调用的方法(dot等)。

该算法基于求出指定直线与包含指定点的正交直线的交点，并计算其距离。在线段的情况下，我们必须检查交点是否在线段的点之间，如果不是这样，则最小距离是指定点与线段的一个端点之间的距离。这是一个c#实现。

Double Distance(Point a, Point b)
{
    double xdiff = a.X - b.X, ydiff = a.Y - b.Y;
    return Math.Sqrt((long)xdiff * xdiff + (long)ydiff * ydiff);
}

Boolean IsBetween(double x, double a, double b)
{
    return ((a <= b && x >= a && x <= b) || (a > b && x <= a && x >= b));
}

Double GetDistance(Point pt, Point pt1, Point pt2, out Point intersection)
{
    Double a, x, y, R;

    if (pt1.X != pt2.X) {
        a = (double)(pt2.Y - pt1.Y) / (pt2.X - pt1.X);
        x = (a * (pt.Y - pt1.Y) + a * a * pt1.X + pt.X) / (a * a + 1);
        y = a * x + pt1.Y - a * pt1.X; }
    else { x = pt1.X;  y = pt.Y; }

    if (IsBetween(x, pt1.X, pt2.X) && IsBetween(y, pt1.Y, pt2.Y)) {
        intersection = new Point((int)x, (int)y);
        R = Distance(intersection, pt); }
    else {
        double d1 = Distance(pt, pt1), d2 = Distance(pt, pt2);
        if (d1 < d2) { intersection = pt1; R = d1; }
        else { intersection = pt2; R = d2; }}

    return R;
}

I'm assuming you want to find the shortest distance between the point and a line segment; to do this, you need to find the line (lineA) which is perpendicular to your line segment (lineB) which goes through your point, determine the intersection between that line (lineA) and your line which goes through your line segment (lineB); if that point is between the two points of your line segment, then the distance is the distance between your point and the point you just found which is the intersection of lineA and lineB; if the point is not between the two points of your line segment, you need to get the distance between your point and the closer of two ends of the line segment; this can be done easily by taking the square distance (to avoid a square root) between the point and the two points of the line segment; whichever is closer, take the square root of that one.

只是遇到了这个，我想我应该添加一个Lua实现。它假设点以表{x=xVal, y=yVal}给出，直线或线段由包含两个点的表给出(见下面的例子):

function distance( P1, P2 )
    return math.sqrt((P1.x-P2.x)^2 + (P1.y-P2.y)^2)
end

-- Returns false if the point lies beyond the reaches of the segment
function distPointToSegment( line, P )
    if line[1].x == line[2].x and line[1].y == line[2].y then
        print("Error: Not a line!")
        return false
    end

    local d = distance( line[1], line[2] )

    local t = ((P.x - line[1].x)*(line[2].x - line[1].x) + (P.y - line[1].y)*(line[2].y - line[1].y))/(d^2)

    local projection = {}
    projection.x = line[1].x + t*(line[2].x-line[1].x)
    projection.y = line[1].y + t*(line[2].y-line[1].y)

    if t >= 0 and t <= 1 then   -- within line segment?
        return distance( projection, {x=P.x, y=P.y} )
    else
        return false
    end
end

-- Returns value even if point is further down the line (outside segment)
function distPointToLine( line, P )
    if line[1].x == line[2].x and line[1].y == line[2].y then
        print("Error: Not a line!")
        return false
    end

    local d = distance( line[1], line[2] )

    local t = ((P.x - line[1].x)*(line[2].x - line[1].x) + (P.y - line[1].y)*(line[2].y - line[1].y))/(d^2)

    local projection = {}
    projection.x = line[1].x + t*(line[2].x-line[1].x)
    projection.y = line[1].y + t*(line[2].y-line[1].y)

    return distance( projection, {x=P.x, y=P.y} )
end

使用示例:

local P1 = {x = 0, y = 0}
local P2 = {x = 10, y = 10}
local line = { P1, P2 }
local P3 = {x = 7, y = 15}
print(distPointToLine( line, P3 ))  -- prints 5.6568542494924
print(distPointToSegment( line, P3 )) -- prints false