该算法基于求出指定直线与包含指定点的正交直线的交点，并计算其距离。在线段的情况下，我们必须检查交点是否在线段的点之间，如果不是这样，则最小距离是指定点与线段的一个端点之间的距离。这是一个c#实现。

Double Distance(Point a, Point b)
{
    double xdiff = a.X - b.X, ydiff = a.Y - b.Y;
    return Math.Sqrt((long)xdiff * xdiff + (long)ydiff * ydiff);
}

Boolean IsBetween(double x, double a, double b)
{
    return ((a <= b && x >= a && x <= b) || (a > b && x <= a && x >= b));
}

Double GetDistance(Point pt, Point pt1, Point pt2, out Point intersection)
{
    Double a, x, y, R;

    if (pt1.X != pt2.X) {
        a = (double)(pt2.Y - pt1.Y) / (pt2.X - pt1.X);
        x = (a * (pt.Y - pt1.Y) + a * a * pt1.X + pt.X) / (a * a + 1);
        y = a * x + pt1.Y - a * pt1.X; }
    else { x = pt1.X;  y = pt.Y; }

    if (IsBetween(x, pt1.X, pt2.X) && IsBetween(y, pt1.Y, pt2.Y)) {
        intersection = new Point((int)x, (int)y);
        R = Distance(intersection, pt); }
    else {
        double d1 = Distance(pt, pt1), d2 = Distance(pt, pt2);
        if (d1 < d2) { intersection = pt1; R = d1; }
        else { intersection = pt2; R = d2; }}

    return R;
}

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.

在我自己的问题线程如何计算在C, c# / .NET 2.0或Java的所有情况下一个点和线段之间的最短2D距离?当我找到一个c#的答案时，我被要求把它放在这里:所以它是从http://www.topcoder.com/tc?d1=tutorials&d2=geometry1&module=Static修改的:

//Compute the dot product AB . BC
private double DotProduct(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC)
{
    double[] AB = new double[2];
    double[] BC = new double[2];
    AB[0] = pointB[0] - pointA[0];
    AB[1] = pointB[1] - pointA[1];
    BC[0] = pointC[0] - pointB[0];
    BC[1] = pointC[1] - pointB[1];
    double dot = AB[0] * BC[0] + AB[1] * BC[1];

    return dot;
}

//Compute the cross product AB x AC
private double CrossProduct(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC)
{
    double[] AB = new double[2];
    double[] AC = new double[2];
    AB[0] = pointB[0] - pointA[0];
    AB[1] = pointB[1] - pointA[1];
    AC[0] = pointC[0] - pointA[0];
    AC[1] = pointC[1] - pointA[1];
    double cross = AB[0] * AC[1] - AB[1] * AC[0];

    return cross;
}

//Compute the distance from A to B
double Distance(double[] pointA, double[] pointB)
{
    double d1 = pointA[0] - pointB[0];
    double d2 = pointA[1] - pointB[1];

    return Math.Sqrt(d1 * d1 + d2 * d2);
}

//Compute the distance from AB to C
//if isSegment is true, AB is a segment, not a line.
double LineToPointDistance2D(double[] pointA, double[] pointB, double[] pointC, 
    bool isSegment)
{
    double dist = CrossProduct(pointA, pointB, pointC) / Distance(pointA, pointB);
    if (isSegment)
    {
        double dot1 = DotProduct(pointA, pointB, pointC);
        if (dot1 > 0) 
            return Distance(pointB, pointC);

        double dot2 = DotProduct(pointB, pointA, pointC);
        if (dot2 > 0) 
            return Distance(pointA, pointC);
    }
    return Math.Abs(dist);
} 

我不是要回答问题，而是要问问题，所以我希望我不会因为某些原因而得到数百万张反对票，而是批评。我只是想(并被鼓励)分享其他人的想法，因为这个帖子中的解决方案要么是用一些奇异的语言(Fortran, Mathematica)，要么被某人标记为错误。对我来说唯一有用的(由Grumdrig编写)是用c++编写的，没有人标记它有错误。但是它缺少被调用的方法(dot等)。

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

该算法基于求出指定直线与包含指定点的正交直线的交点，并计算其距离。在线段的情况下，我们必须检查交点是否在线段的点之间，如果不是这样，则最小距离是指定点与线段的一个端点之间的距离。这是一个c#实现。

Double Distance(Point a, Point b)
{
    double xdiff = a.X - b.X, ydiff = a.Y - b.Y;
    return Math.Sqrt((long)xdiff * xdiff + (long)ydiff * ydiff);
}

Boolean IsBetween(double x, double a, double b)
{
    return ((a <= b && x >= a && x <= b) || (a > b && x <= a && x >= b));
}

Double GetDistance(Point pt, Point pt1, Point pt2, out Point intersection)
{
    Double a, x, y, R;

    if (pt1.X != pt2.X) {
        a = (double)(pt2.Y - pt1.Y) / (pt2.X - pt1.X);
        x = (a * (pt.Y - pt1.Y) + a * a * pt1.X + pt.X) / (a * a + 1);
        y = a * x + pt1.Y - a * pt1.X; }
    else { x = pt1.X;  y = pt.Y; }

    if (IsBetween(x, pt1.X, pt2.X) && IsBetween(y, pt1.Y, pt2.Y)) {
        intersection = new Point((int)x, (int)y);
        R = Distance(intersection, pt); }
    else {
        double d1 = Distance(pt, pt1), d2 = Distance(pt, pt2);
        if (d1 < d2) { intersection = pt1; R = d1; }
        else { intersection = pt2; R = d2; }}

    return R;
}

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);