Calculating distance between two points, using latitude longitude?

The Java code given by Dommer above gives slightly incorrect results but the small errors add up if you are processing say a GPS track. Here is an implementation of the Haversine method in Java which also takes into account height differences between two points.

/**
 * Calculate distance between two points in latitude and longitude taking
 * into account height difference. If you are not interested in height
 * difference pass 0.0. Uses Haversine method as its base.
 * 
 * lat1, lon1 Start point lat2, lon2 End point el1 Start altitude in meters
 * el2 End altitude in meters
 * @returns Distance in Meters
 */
public static double distance(double lat1, double lat2, double lon1,
        double lon2, double el1, double el2) {

    final int R = 6371; // Radius of the earth

    double latDistance = Math.toRadians(lat2 - lat1);
    double lonDistance = Math.toRadians(lon2 - lon1);
    double a = Math.sin(latDistance / 2) * Math.sin(latDistance / 2)
            + Math.cos(Math.toRadians(lat1)) * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(lat2))
            * Math.sin(lonDistance / 2) * Math.sin(lonDistance / 2);
    double c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
    double distance = R * c * 1000; // convert to meters

    double height = el1 - el2;

    distance = Math.pow(distance, 2) + Math.pow(height, 2);

    return Math.sqrt(distance);
}

Here's a Java function that calculates the distance between two lat/long points, posted below, just in case it disappears again.

    private double distance(double lat1, double lon1, double lat2, double lon2, char unit) {
      double theta = lon1 - lon2;
      double dist = Math.sin(deg2rad(lat1)) * Math.sin(deg2rad(lat2)) + Math.cos(deg2rad(lat1)) * Math.cos(deg2rad(lat2)) * Math.cos(deg2rad(theta));
      dist = Math.acos(dist);
      dist = rad2deg(dist);
      dist = dist * 60 * 1.1515;
      if (unit == 'K') {
        dist = dist * 1.609344;
      } else if (unit == 'N') {
        dist = dist * 0.8684;
        }
      return (dist);
    }
    
    /*:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*/
    /*::  This function converts decimal degrees to radians             :*/
    /*:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*/
    private double deg2rad(double deg) {
      return (deg * Math.PI / 180.0);
    }
    
    /*:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*/
    /*::  This function converts radians to decimal degrees             :*/
    /*:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*/
    private double rad2deg(double rad) {
      return (rad * 180.0 / Math.PI);
    }
    
    System.out.println(distance(32.9697, -96.80322, 29.46786, -98.53506, 'M') + " Miles\n");
    System.out.println(distance(32.9697, -96.80322, 29.46786, -98.53506, 'K') + " Kilometers\n");
    System.out.println(distance(32.9697, -96.80322, 29.46786, -98.53506, 'N') + " Nautical Miles\n");