SegmentLength

SegmentLength is a term used across mathematics, computer science, and signal processing to denote the length or duration of a defined segment of a object, sequence, or space. The exact meaning depends on context, but it generally represents the size of a contiguous portion that has been isolated for analysis or computation.

In geometry, the segmentLength of a line segment with endpoints A and B is the Euclidean distance between those points. In n-dimensional space, this is the square root of the sum of squared coordinate differences, for example in 2D: sqrt((x2 − x1)² + (y2 − y1)²), and in 3D: sqrt((x2 − x1)² + (y2 − y1)² + (z2 − z1)²). When a segment is described by discrete indices, such as a subarray from i to j, the segmentLength is often j − i + 1.

In time- or sample-based contexts, segmentLength can refer to the duration or the number of samples in a window. For a signal sampled at f_s Hz with a window of w samples, the segmentLength is w samples or w / f_s seconds, depending on whether the unit is samples or time.

In data structures and algorithms, segmentLength can describe the size of an interval represented by a data structure like a segment tree, where the length of the interval corresponds to the number of elements covered.

Overall, segmentLength is a flexible label for the size of a segment, defined by its endpoints or its index range, and its precise interpretation is guided by the domain and problem at hand. See also length, distance, window, interval, and interpolation.