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/

Lua解决方案

-- distance from point (px, py) to line segment (x1, y1, x2, y2)
function distPointToLine(px,py,x1,y1,x2,y2) -- point, start and end of the segment
    local dx,dy = x2-x1,y2-y1
    local length = math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy)
    dx,dy = dx/length,dy/length -- normalization
    local p = dx*(px-x1)+dy*(py-y1)
    if p < 0 then
        dx,dy = px-x1,py-y1
        return math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy), x1, y1 -- distance, nearest point
    elseif p > length then
        dx,dy = px-x2,py-y2
        return math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy), x2, y2 -- distance, nearest point
    end
    return math.abs(dy*(px-x1)-dx*(py-y1)), x1+dx*p, y1+dy*p -- distance, nearest point
end

对于折线(有两条以上线段的线):

-- if the (poly-)line has several segments, just iterate through all of them:
function nearest_sector_in_line (x, y, line)
    local x1, y1, x2, y2, min_dist
    local ax,ay = line[1], line[2]
    for j = 3, #line-1, 2 do
        local bx,by = line[j], line[j+1]
        local dist = distPointToLine(x,y,ax,ay,bx,by)
        if not min_dist or dist < min_dist then
            min_dist = dist
            x1, y1, x2, y2 = ax,ay,bx,by
        end
        ax, ay = bx, by
    end
    return x1, y1, x2, y2
end

例子:

-- call it:
local x1, y1, x2, y2 = nearest_sector_in_line (7, 4, {0,0, 10,0, 10,10, 0,10})

这是Javascript中最简单的完整代码。

(X, y)是目标点(x1, y)到(x2, y)是线段。

更新:修复了评论中0长度的行问题。

function pDistance(x, y, x1, y1, x2, y2) {

  var A = x - x1;
  var B = y - y1;
  var C = x2 - x1;
  var D = y2 - y1;

  var dot = A * C + B * D;
  var len_sq = C * C + D * D;
  var param = -1;
  if (len_sq != 0) //in case of 0 length line
      param = dot / len_sq;

  var xx, yy;

  if (param < 0) {
    xx = x1;
    yy = y1;
  }
  else if (param > 1) {
    xx = x2;
    yy = y2;
  }
  else {
    xx = x1 + param * C;
    yy = y1 + param * D;
  }

  var dx = x - xx;
  var dy = y - yy;
  return Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);
}

更新:Kotlin版本

fun getDistance(x: Double, y: Double, x1: Double, y1: Double, x2: Double, y2: Double): Double {
    val a = x - x1
    val b = y - y1
    val c = x2 - x1
    val d = y2 - y1

    val lenSq = c * c + d * d
    val param = if (lenSq != .0) { //in case of 0 length line
        val dot = a * c + b * d
        dot / lenSq
    } else {
        -1.0
    }

    val (xx, yy) = when {
        param < 0 -> x1 to y1
        param > 1 -> x2 to y2
        else -> x1 + param * c to y1 + param * d
    }

    val dx = x - xx
    val dy = y - yy
    return hypot(dx, dy)
}

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 );
}

我制作了一个交互式Desmos图来演示如何实现这一点:

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/kswrm8ddum

红点是A点，绿点是B点，C点是蓝色点。 您可以拖动图形中的点来查看值的变化。 左边的值“s”是线段的参数(即s = 0表示点A, s = 1表示点B)。 值“d”是第三点到经过A和B的直线的距离。

编辑:

有趣的小见解:坐标(s, d)是坐标系中第三点C的坐标，AB是单位x轴，单位y轴垂直于AB。

嘿，我昨天才写的。它在Actionscript 3.0中，基本上是Javascript，尽管你可能没有相同的Point类。

//st = start of line segment
//b = the line segment (as in: st + b = end of line segment)
//pt = point to test
//Returns distance from point to line segment.  
//Note: nearest point on the segment to the test point is right there if we ever need it
public static function linePointDist( st:Point, b:Point, pt:Point ):Number
{
    var nearestPt:Point; //closest point on seqment to pt

    var keyDot:Number = dot( b, pt.subtract( st ) ); //key dot product
    var bLenSq:Number = dot( b, b ); //Segment length squared

    if( keyDot <= 0 )  //pt is "behind" st, use st
    {
        nearestPt = st  
    }
    else if( keyDot >= bLenSq ) //pt is "past" end of segment, use end (notice we are saving twin sqrts here cuz)
    {
        nearestPt = st.add(b);
    }
    else //pt is inside segment, reuse keyDot and bLenSq to get percent of seqment to move in to find closest point
    {
        var keyDotToPctOfB:Number = keyDot/bLenSq; //REM dot product comes squared
        var partOfB:Point = new Point( b.x * keyDotToPctOfB, b.y * keyDotToPctOfB );
        nearestPt = st.add(partOfB);
    }

    var dist:Number = (pt.subtract(nearestPt)).length;

    return dist;
}

此外，这里有一个关于这个问题的相当完整和可读的讨论:notejot.com