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;

如果它是一条无限大的直线，而不是一条线段，最简单的方法是这样(在ruby中)，其中mx + b是直线，(x1, y1)是已知的点

(y1 - mx1 - b).abs / Math.sqrt(m**2 + 1)

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 );
}

和这个答案一样，只是用的是Visual Basic。使其可作为Microsoft Excel和VBA/宏中的用户定义函数使用。

函数返回点(x,y)到由(x1,y1)和(x2,y2)定义的线段的最近距离。

Function DistanceToSegment(x As Double, y As Double, x1 As Double, y1 As Double, x2 As Double, y2 As Double)

  Dim A As Double
  A = x - x1
  Dim B As Double
  B = y - y1
  Dim C  As Double
  C = x2 - x1
  Dim D As Double
  D = y2 - y1

  Dim dot As Double
  dot = A * C + B * D
  Dim len_sq As Double
  len_sq = C * C + D * D
  Dim param As Double
  param = -1

  If (len_sq <> 0) Then
      param = dot / len_sq
  End If

  Dim xx As Double
  Dim yy As Double

  If (param < 0) Then
    xx = x1
    yy = y1
  ElseIf (param > 1) Then
    xx = x2
    yy = y2
  Else
    xx = x1 + param * C
    yy = y1 + param * D
  End If

  Dim dx As Double
  dx = x - xx
  Dim dy As Double
  dy = y - yy

  DistanceToSegment = Math.Sqr(dx * dx + dy * dy)

End Function

对于懒人来说，以下是我在Objective-C语言中移植@Grumdrig的解决方案:

CGFloat sqr(CGFloat x) { return x*x; }
CGFloat dist2(CGPoint v, CGPoint w) { return sqr(v.x - w.x) + sqr(v.y - w.y); }
CGFloat distanceToSegmentSquared(CGPoint p, CGPoint v, CGPoint w)
{
    CGFloat l2 = dist2(v, w);
    if (l2 == 0.0f) return dist2(p, v);

    CGFloat t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / l2;
    if (t < 0.0f) return dist2(p, v);
    if (t > 1.0f) return dist2(p, w);
    return dist2(p, CGPointMake(v.x + t * (w.x - v.x), v.y + t * (w.y - v.y)));
}
CGFloat distanceToSegment(CGPoint point, CGPoint segmentPointV, CGPoint segmentPointW)
{
    return sqrtf(distanceToSegmentSquared(point, segmentPointV, segmentPointW));
}

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;

    }