本想在GLSL中这样做，但如果可能的话，最好避免所有这些条件。使用clamp()可以避免两种端点情况:

// find closest point to P on line segment AB:
vec3 closest_point_on_line_segment(in vec3 P, in vec3 A, in vec3 B) {
    vec3 AP = P - A, AB = B - A;
    float l = dot(AB, AB);
    if (l <= 0.0000001) return A;    // A and B are practically the same
    return AP - AB*clamp(dot(AP, AB)/l, 0.0, 1.0);  // do the projection
}

如果您可以确定A和B彼此不会非常接近，则可以简化为删除If()。事实上，即使A和B是相同的，我的GPU仍然给出了这个无条件版本的正确结果(但这是使用pre-OpenGL 4.1，其中GLSL除零是未定义的):

// find closest point to P on line segment AB:
vec3 closest_point_on_line_segment(in vec3 P, in vec3 A, in vec3 B) {
    vec3 AP = P - A, AB = B - A;
    return AP - AB*clamp(dot(AP, AB)/dot(AB, AB), 0.0, 1.0);
}

计算距离是很简单的——GLSL提供了一个distance()函数，你可以在这个最近的点和P。

灵感来自Iñigo Quilez的胶囊距离函数代码

这是我最后写的代码。这段代码假设一个点以{x:5, y:7}的形式定义。注意，这不是绝对最有效的方法，但它是我能想到的最简单、最容易理解的代码。

// a, b, and c in the code below are all points

function distance(a, b)
{
    var dx = a.x - b.x;
    var dy = a.y - b.y;
    return Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
}

function Segment(a, b)
{
    var ab = {
        x: b.x - a.x,
        y: b.y - a.y
    };
    var length = distance(a, b);

    function cross(c) {
        return ab.x * (c.y-a.y) - ab.y * (c.x-a.x);
    };

    this.distanceFrom = function(c) {
        return Math.min(distance(a,c),
                        distance(b,c),
                        Math.abs(cross(c) / length));
    };
}

2D坐标数组的Python Numpy实现:

import numpy as np


def dist2d(p1, p2, coords):
    ''' Distance from points to a finite line btwn p1 -> p2 '''
    assert coords.ndim == 2 and coords.shape[1] == 2, 'coords is not 2 dim'
    dp = p2 - p1
    st = dp[0]**2 + dp[1]**2
    u = ((coords[:, 0] - p1[0]) * dp[0] + (coords[:, 1] - p1[1]) * dp[1]) / st

    u[u > 1.] = 1.
    u[u < 0.] = 0.

    dx = (p1[0] + u * dp[0]) - coords[:, 0]
    dy = (p1[1] + u * dp[1]) - coords[:, 1]

    return np.sqrt(dx**2 + dy**2)


# Usage:
p1 = np.array([0., 0.])
p2 = np.array([0., 10.])

# List of coordinates
coords = np.array(
    [[0., 0.],
     [5., 5.],
     [10., 10.],
     [20., 20.]
     ])

d = dist2d(p1, p2, coords)

# Single coordinate
coord = np.array([25., 25.])
d = dist2d(p1, p2, coord[np.newaxis, :])

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;
}

WPF版本:

public class LineSegment
{
    private readonly Vector _offset;
    private readonly Vector _vector;

    public LineSegment(Point start, Point end)
    {
        _offset = (Vector)start;
        _vector = (Vector)(end - _offset);
    }

    public double DistanceTo(Point pt)
    {
        var v = (Vector)pt - _offset;

        // first, find a projection point on the segment in parametric form (0..1)
        var p = (v * _vector) / _vector.LengthSquared;

        // and limit it so it lays inside the segment
        p = Math.Min(Math.Max(p, 0), 1);

        // now, find the distance from that point to our point
        return (_vector * p - v).Length;
    }
}

快速实现http://paulbourke.net/geometry/pointlineplane/source.c

    static func magnitude(p1: CGPoint, p2: CGPoint) -> CGFloat {
        let vector = CGPoint(x: p2.x - p1.x, y: p2.y - p1.y)
        return sqrt(pow(vector.x, 2) + pow(vector.y, 2))
    }

    /// http://paulbourke.net/geometry/pointlineplane/
    /// http://paulbourke.net/geometry/pointlineplane/source.c
    static func pointDistanceToLine(point: CGPoint, lineStart: CGPoint, lineEnd: CGPoint) -> CGFloat? {

        let lineMag = magnitude(p1: lineEnd, p2: lineStart)
        let u = (((point.x - lineStart.x) * (lineEnd.x - lineStart.x)) +
                ((point.y - lineStart.y) * (lineEnd.y - lineStart.y))) /
                (lineMag * lineMag)

        if u < 0 || u > 1 {
            // closest point does not fall within the line segment
            return nil
        }

        let intersectionX = lineStart.x + u * (lineEnd.x - lineStart.x)
        let intersectionY = lineStart.y + u * (lineEnd.y - lineStart.y)

        return magnitude(p1: point, p2: CGPoint(x: intersectionX, y: intersectionY))
    }