Grumdrig的c++ /JavaScript实现对我来说非常有用，所以我提供了我正在使用的Python直接端口。完整的代码在这里。

class Point(object):
  def __init__(self, x, y):
    self.x = float(x)
    self.y = float(y)

def square(x):
  return x * x

def distance_squared(v, w):
  return square(v.x - w.x) + square(v.y - w.y)

def distance_point_segment_squared(p, v, w):
  # Segment length squared, |w-v|^2
  d2 = distance_squared(v, w) 
  if d2 == 0: 
    # v == w, return distance to v
    return distance_squared(p, v)
  # 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
  t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / d2;
  if t < 0:
    # Beyond v end of the segment
    return distance_squared(p, v)
  elif t > 1.0:
    # Beyond w end of the segment
    return distance_squared(p, w)
  else:
    # Projection falls on the segment.
    proj = Point(v.x + t * (w.x - v.x), v.y + t * (w.y - v.y))
    # print proj.x, proj.y
    return distance_squared(p, proj)

c#版本

public static FP DistanceToLineSegment(FPVector3 a, FPVector3 b, FPVector3 point)
{
  var d = b - a;
  var s = d.SqrMagnitude;
  var ds = d / s;
  var lambda = FPVector3.Dot(point - a, ds);
  var p = FPMath.Clamp01(lambda) * d;
  return (a + p - point).Magnitude;
}

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.

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})

基于Joshua Javascript的AutoHotkeys版本:

plDist(x, y, x1, y1, x2, y2) {
    A:= x - x1
    B:= y - y1
    C:= x2 - x1
    D:= y2 - y1

    dot:= A*C + B*D
    sqLen:= C*C + D*D
    param:= dot / sqLen

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

    dx:= x - xx
    dy:= y - yy

    return sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy)
}

在数学

它使用线段的参数描述，并将点投影到线段定义的直线中。当参数在线段内从0到1时，如果投影在这个范围之外，我们计算到相应端点的距离，而不是法线到线段的直线。

Clear["Global`*"];
 distance[{start_, end_}, pt_] := 
   Module[{param},
   param = ((pt - start).(end - start))/Norm[end - start]^2; (*parameter. the "."
                                                       here means vector product*)

   Which[
    param < 0, EuclideanDistance[start, pt],                 (*If outside bounds*)
    param > 1, EuclideanDistance[end, pt],
    True, EuclideanDistance[pt, start + param (end - start)] (*Normal distance*)
    ]
   ];  

策划的结果:

Plot3D[distance[{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}, {xp, yp}], {xp, -1, 2}, {yp, -1, 2}]

画出比截断距离更近的点:

等高线图: