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))

下面是HSQLDB的SQL实现:

CREATE FUNCTION dist_to_segment(px double, py double, vx double, vy double, wx double, wy double)
  RETURNS double
BEGIN atomic
   declare l2 double;
   declare t double;
   declare nx double;
   declare ny double;
   set l2 =(vx - wx)*(vx - wx) + (vy - wy)*(vy - wy);
   IF l2 = 0 THEN
     RETURN sqrt((vx - px)*(vx - px) + (vy - py)*(vy - py));
   ELSE
     set t = ((px - vx) * (wx - vx) + (py - vy) * (wy - vy)) / l2;
     set t = GREATEST(0, LEAST(1, t));
     set nx=vx + t * (wx - vx);
     set ny=vy + t * (wy - vy);
     RETURN sqrt((nx - px)*(nx - px) + (ny - py)*(ny - py));
   END IF;
END;

Postgres的实现:

CREATE FUNCTION dist_to_segment(px numeric, py numeric, vx numeric, vy numeric, wx numeric, wy numeric)
  RETURNS numeric
AS $$
   declare l2 numeric;
   declare t numeric;
   declare nx numeric;
   declare ny numeric;
BEGIN 
   l2 := (vx - wx)*(vx - wx) + (vy - wy)*(vy - wy);
   IF l2 = 0 THEN
     RETURN sqrt((vx - px)*(vx - px) + (vy - py)*(vy - py));
   ELSE
     t := ((px - vx) * (wx - vx) + (py - vy) * (wy - vy)) / l2;
     t := GREATEST(0, LEAST(1, t));
     nx := vx + t * (wx - vx);
     ny := vy + t * (wy - vy);
     RETURN sqrt((nx - px)*(nx - px) + (ny - py)*(ny - py));
   END IF;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

对于感兴趣的人，这里是Joshua的Javascript代码到Objective-C的简单转换:

- (double)distanceToPoint:(CGPoint)p fromLineSegmentBetween:(CGPoint)l1 and:(CGPoint)l2
{
    double A = p.x - l1.x;
    double B = p.y - l1.y;
    double C = l2.x - l1.x;
    double D = l2.y - l1.y;

    double dot = A * C + B * D;
    double len_sq = C * C + D * D;
    double param = dot / len_sq;

    double xx, yy;

    if (param < 0 || (l1.x == l2.x && l1.y == l2.y)) {
        xx = l1.x;
        yy = l1.y;
    }
    else if (param > 1) {
        xx = l2.x;
        yy = l2.y;
    }
    else {
        xx = l1.x + param * C;
        yy = l1.y + param * D;
    }

    double dx = p.x - xx;
    double dy = p.y - yy;

    return sqrtf(dx * dx + dy * dy);
}

我需要这个解决方案与MKMapPoint一起工作，所以我将分享它，以防其他人需要它。只是一些小的改变，这将返回米为单位的距离:

- (double)distanceToPoint:(MKMapPoint)p fromLineSegmentBetween:(MKMapPoint)l1 and:(MKMapPoint)l2
{
    double A = p.x - l1.x;
    double B = p.y - l1.y;
    double C = l2.x - l1.x;
    double D = l2.y - l1.y;

    double dot = A * C + B * D;
    double len_sq = C * C + D * D;
    double param = dot / len_sq;

    double xx, yy;

    if (param < 0 || (l1.x == l2.x && l1.y == l2.y)) {
        xx = l1.x;
        yy = l1.y;
    }
    else if (param > 1) {
        xx = l2.x;
        yy = l2.y;
    }
    else {
        xx = l1.x + param * C;
        yy = l1.y + param * D;
    }

    return MKMetersBetweenMapPoints(p, MKMapPointMake(xx, yy));
}

GLSL版:

// line (a -> b ) point p[enter image description here][1]
float distanceToLine(vec2 a, vec2 b, vec2 p) {
    float aside = dot((p - a),(b - a));
    if(aside< 0.0) return length(p-a);
    float bside = dot((p - b),(a - b));
    if(bside< 0.0) return length(p-b);
    vec2 pointOnLine = (bside*a + aside*b)/pow(length(a-b),2.0);
    return length(p - pointOnLine);
}

在f#中，点c到a和b之间的线段的距离为:

let pointToLineSegmentDistance (a: Vector, b: Vector) (c: Vector) =
  let d = b - a
  let s = d.Length
  let lambda = (c - a) * d / s
  let p = (lambda |> max 0.0 |> min s) * d / s
  (a + p - c).Length

向量d沿着线段从a指向b。d/s与c-a的点积给出了无限直线与点c之间最接近点的参数。使用min和max函数将该参数钳制到范围0..s，使该点位于a和b之间。最后，a+p-c的长度是c到线段上最近点的距离。

使用示例:

pointToLineSegmentDistance (Vector(0.0, 0.0), Vector(1.0, 0.0)) (Vector(-1.0, 1.0))

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 );
}