这个答案是基于公认答案的JavaScript解决方案。 它主要只是格式更好，函数名更长，当然函数语法更短，因为它是在ES6 + CoffeeScript中。

JavaScript版本(ES6)

distanceSquared = (v, w)=> Math.pow(v.x - w.x, 2) + Math.pow(v.y - w.y, 2);
distance = (v, w)=> Math.sqrt(distanceSquared(v, w));

distanceToLineSegmentSquared = (p, v, w)=> {
    l2 = distanceSquared(v, w);
    if (l2 === 0) {
        return distanceSquared(p, v);
    }
    t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / l2;
    t = Math.max(0, Math.min(1, t));
    return distanceSquared(p, {
        x: v.x + t * (w.x - v.x),
        y: v.y + t * (w.y - v.y)
    });
}
distanceToLineSegment = (p, v, w)=> {
    return Math.sqrt(distanceToLineSegmentSquared(p, v));
}

CoffeeScript版本

distanceSquared = (v, w)-> (v.x - w.x) ** 2 + (v.y - w.y) ** 2
distance = (v, w)-> Math.sqrt(distanceSquared(v, w))

distanceToLineSegmentSquared = (p, v, w)->
    l2 = distanceSquared(v, w)
    return distanceSquared(p, v) if l2 is 0
    t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / l2
    t = Math.max(0, Math.min(1, t))
    distanceSquared(p, {
        x: v.x + t * (w.x - v.x)
        y: v.y + t * (w.y - v.y)
    })

distanceToLineSegment = (p, v, w)->
    Math.sqrt(distanceToLineSegmentSquared(p, v, w))

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

这是一个为有限线段而做的实现，而不是像这里的大多数其他函数那样的无限线(这就是为什么我做这个)。

Paul Bourke的理论实施。

Python:

def dist(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3): # x3,y3 is the point
    px = x2-x1
    py = y2-y1

    norm = px*px + py*py

    u =  ((x3 - x1) * px + (y3 - y1) * py) / float(norm)

    if u > 1:
        u = 1
    elif u < 0:
        u = 0

    x = x1 + u * px
    y = y1 + u * py

    dx = x - x3
    dy = y - y3

    # Note: If the actual distance does not matter,
    # if you only want to compare what this function
    # returns to other results of this function, you
    # can just return the squared distance instead
    # (i.e. remove the sqrt) to gain a little performance

    dist = (dx*dx + dy*dy)**.5

    return dist

AS3:

public static function segmentDistToPoint(segA:Point, segB:Point, p:Point):Number
{
    var p2:Point = new Point(segB.x - segA.x, segB.y - segA.y);
    var something:Number = p2.x*p2.x + p2.y*p2.y;
    var u:Number = ((p.x - segA.x) * p2.x + (p.y - segA.y) * p2.y) / something;

    if (u > 1)
        u = 1;
    else if (u < 0)
        u = 0;

    var x:Number = segA.x + u * p2.x;
    var y:Number = segA.y + u * p2.y;

    var dx:Number = x - p.x;
    var dy:Number = y - p.y;

    var dist:Number = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);

    return dist;
}

Java

private double shortestDistance(float x1,float y1,float x2,float y2,float x3,float y3)
    {
        float px=x2-x1;
        float py=y2-y1;
        float temp=(px*px)+(py*py);
        float u=((x3 - x1) * px + (y3 - y1) * py) / (temp);
        if(u>1){
            u=1;
        }
        else if(u<0){
            u=0;
        }
        float x = x1 + u * px;
        float y = y1 + u * py;

        float dx = x - x3;
        float dy = y - y3;
        double dist = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
        return dist;

    }

在javascript中使用几何:

var a = { x:20, y:20};//start segment    
var b = { x:40, y:30};//end segment   
var c = { x:37, y:14};//point   

// magnitude from a to c    
var ac = Math.sqrt( Math.pow( ( a.x - c.x ), 2 ) + Math.pow( ( a.y - c.y ), 2) );    
// magnitude from b to c   
var bc = Math.sqrt( Math.pow( ( b.x - c.x ), 2 ) + Math.pow( ( b.y - c.y ), 2 ) );    
// magnitude from a to b (base)     
var ab = Math.sqrt( Math.pow( ( a.x - b.x ), 2 ) + Math.pow( ( a.y - b.y ), 2 ) );    
 // perimeter of triangle     
var p = ac + bc + ab;    
 // area of the triangle    
var area = Math.sqrt( p/2 * ( p/2 - ac) * ( p/2 - bc ) * ( p/2 - ab ) );    
 // height of the triangle = distance    
var h = ( area * 2 ) / ab;    
console.log ("height: " + h);

下面是devnullicus转换为c#的c++版本。对于我的实现，我需要知道交叉点，并找到他的解决方案。

public static bool PointSegmentDistanceSquared(PointF point, PointF lineStart, PointF lineEnd, out double distance, out PointF intersectPoint)
{
    const double kMinSegmentLenSquared = 0.00000001; // adjust to suit.  If you use float, you'll probably want something like 0.000001f
    const double kEpsilon = 1.0E-14; // adjust to suit.  If you use floats, you'll probably want something like 1E-7f
    double dX = lineEnd.X - lineStart.X;
    double dY = lineEnd.Y - lineStart.Y;
    double dp1X = point.X - lineStart.X;
    double dp1Y = point.Y - lineStart.Y;
    double segLenSquared = (dX * dX) + (dY * dY);
    double t = 0.0;

    if (segLenSquared >= -kMinSegmentLenSquared && segLenSquared <= kMinSegmentLenSquared)
    {
        // segment is a point.
        intersectPoint = lineStart;
        t = 0.0;
        distance = ((dp1X * dp1X) + (dp1Y * dp1Y));
    }
    else
    {
        // Project a line from p to the segment [p1,p2].  By considering the line
        // extending the segment, parameterized as p1 + (t * (p2 - p1)),
        // we find projection of point p onto the line. 
        // It falls where t = [(p - p1) . (p2 - p1)] / |p2 - p1|^2
        t = ((dp1X * dX) + (dp1Y * dY)) / segLenSquared;
        if (t < kEpsilon)
        {
            // intersects at or to the "left" of first segment vertex (lineStart.X, lineStart.Y).  If t is approximately 0.0, then
            // intersection is at p1.  If t is less than that, then there is no intersection (i.e. p is not within
            // the 'bounds' of the segment)
            if (t > -kEpsilon)
            {
                // intersects at 1st segment vertex
                t = 0.0;
            }
            // set our 'intersection' point to p1.
            intersectPoint = lineStart;
            // Note: If you wanted the ACTUAL intersection point of where the projected lines would intersect if
            // we were doing PointLineDistanceSquared, then intersectPoint.X would be (lineStart.X + (t * dx)) and intersectPoint.Y would be (lineStart.Y + (t * dy)).
        }
        else if (t > (1.0 - kEpsilon))
        {
            // intersects at or to the "right" of second segment vertex (lineEnd.X, lineEnd.Y).  If t is approximately 1.0, then
            // intersection is at p2.  If t is greater than that, then there is no intersection (i.e. p is not within
            // the 'bounds' of the segment)
            if (t < (1.0 + kEpsilon))
            {
                // intersects at 2nd segment vertex
                t = 1.0;
            }
            // set our 'intersection' point to p2.
            intersectPoint = lineEnd;
            // Note: If you wanted the ACTUAL intersection point of where the projected lines would intersect if
            // we were doing PointLineDistanceSquared, then intersectPoint.X would be (lineStart.X + (t * dx)) and intersectPoint.Y would be (lineStart.Y + (t * dy)).
        }
        else
        {
            // The projection of the point to the point on the segment that is perpendicular succeeded and the point
            // is 'within' the bounds of the segment.  Set the intersection point as that projected point.
            intersectPoint = new PointF((float)(lineStart.X + (t * dX)), (float)(lineStart.Y + (t * dY)));
        }
        // return the squared distance from p to the intersection point.  Note that we return the squared distance
        // as an optimization because many times you just need to compare relative distances and the squared values
        // works fine for that.  If you want the ACTUAL distance, just take the square root of this value.
        double dpqX = point.X - intersectPoint.X;
        double dpqY = point.Y - intersectPoint.Y;

        distance = ((dpqX * dpqX) + (dpqY * dpqY));
    }

    return true;
}

Lua: 查找线段(不是整条线)与点之间的最小距离

function solveLinearEquation(A1,B1,C1,A2,B2,C2)
--it is the implitaion of a method of solving linear equations in x and y
  local f1 = B1*C2 -B2*C1
  local f2 = A2*C1-A1*C2
  local f3 = A1*B2 -A2*B1
  return {x= f1/f3, y= f2/f3}
end


function pointLiesOnLine(x,y,x1,y1,x2,y2)
  local dx1 = x-x1
  local  dy1 = y-y1
  local dx2 = x-x2
  local  dy2 = y-y2
  local crossProduct = dy1*dx2 -dx1*dy2

if crossProduct ~= 0  then  return  false
else
  if ((x1>=x) and (x>=x2)) or ((x2>=x) and (x>=x1)) then
    if ((y1>=y) and (y>=y2)) or ((y2>=y) and (y>=y1)) then
      return true
    else return false end
  else  return false end
end
end


function dist(x1,y1,x2,y2)
  local dx = x1-x2
  local dy = y1-y2
  return math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy* dy)
 end


function findMinDistBetnPointAndLine(x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3)
-- finds the min  distance between (x3,y3) and line (x1,y2)--(x2,y2)
   local A2,B2,C2,A1,B1,C1
   local dx = y2-y1
   local dy = x2-x1
   if dx == 0 then A2=1 B2=0 C2=-x3 A1=0 B1=1 C1=-y1 
   elseif dy == 0 then A2=0 B2=1 C2=-y3 A1=1 B1=0 C1=-x1
   else
      local m1 = dy/dx
      local m2 = -1/m1
      A2=m2 B2=-1 C2=y3-m2*x3 A1=m1 B1=-1 C1=y1-m1*x1
   end
 local intsecPoint= solveLinearEquation(A1,B1,C1,A2,B2,C2)
if pointLiesOnLine(intsecPoint.x, intsecPoint.y,x1,y1,x2,y2) then
   return dist(intsecPoint.x, intsecPoint.y, x3,y3)
 else
   return math.min(dist(x3,y3,x1,y1),dist(x3,y3,x2,y2))
end
end