数据库中的字符串，除了需要考虑字符集以外，还需要考虑排序规则（collation）。
从 MySQL 手册中我们会发现，取决于使用的 MySQL Collation，字符串有两种垫片属性：
- PAD SPACE：字符串带有垫片空格，因此在比较时需要忽略空格
- NO PAD：字符串不带有垫片空格，因此在比较时不会忽略尾随空格
具体情况可以使用如下语句查看：
mysql> show collation where collation LIKE 'utf8%';
+----------------------------+---------+-----+---------+----------+---------+---------------+
| Collation | Charset | Id | Default | Compiled | Sortlen | Pad_attribute |
+----------------------------+---------+-----+---------+----------+---------+---------------+
| utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 255 | Yes | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_0900_as_ci | utf8mb4 | 305 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 278 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_0900_bin | utf8mb4 | 309 | | Yes | 1 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_bin | utf8mb4 | 46 | | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_croatian_ci | utf8mb4 | 245 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_cs_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 266 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_cs_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 289 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_czech_ci | utf8mb4 | 234 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_danish_ci | utf8mb4 | 235 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_da_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 267 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_da_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 290 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_de_pb_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 256 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_de_pb_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 279 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_eo_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 273 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_eo_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 296 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_esperanto_ci | utf8mb4 | 241 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_estonian_ci | utf8mb4 | 230 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_es_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 263 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_es_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 286 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_es_trad_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 270 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_es_trad_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 293 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_et_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 262 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_et_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 285 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_general_ci | utf8mb4 | 45 | | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_german2_ci | utf8mb4 | 244 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_hr_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 275 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_hr_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 298 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_hungarian_ci | utf8mb4 | 242 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_hu_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 274 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_hu_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 297 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_icelandic_ci | utf8mb4 | 225 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_is_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 257 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_is_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 280 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_ja_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 303 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_ja_0900_as_cs_ks | utf8mb4 | 304 | | Yes | 24 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_latvian_ci | utf8mb4 | 226 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_la_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 271 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_la_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 294 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_lithuanian_ci | utf8mb4 | 236 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_lt_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 268 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_lt_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 291 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_lv_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 258 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_lv_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 281 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_persian_ci | utf8mb4 | 240 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_pl_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 261 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_pl_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 284 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_polish_ci | utf8mb4 | 229 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_romanian_ci | utf8mb4 | 227 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_roman_ci | utf8mb4 | 239 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_ro_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 259 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_ro_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 282 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_ru_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 306 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_ru_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 307 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_sinhala_ci | utf8mb4 | 243 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_sk_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 269 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_sk_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 292 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_slovak_ci | utf8mb4 | 237 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_slovenian_ci | utf8mb4 | 228 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_sl_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 260 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_sl_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 283 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_spanish2_ci | utf8mb4 | 238 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_spanish_ci | utf8mb4 | 231 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_sv_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 264 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_sv_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 287 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_swedish_ci | utf8mb4 | 232 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_tr_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 265 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_tr_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 288 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_turkish_ci | utf8mb4 | 233 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci | utf8mb4 | 246 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_unicode_ci | utf8mb4 | 224 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_vietnamese_ci | utf8mb4 | 247 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8mb4_vi_0900_ai_ci | utf8mb4 | 277 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_vi_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 300 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8mb4_zh_0900_as_cs | utf8mb4 | 308 | | Yes | 0 | NO PAD |
| utf8_bin | utf8 | 83 | | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_croatian_ci | utf8 | 213 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_czech_ci | utf8 | 202 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_danish_ci | utf8 | 203 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_esperanto_ci | utf8 | 209 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_estonian_ci | utf8 | 198 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_general_ci | utf8 | 33 | Yes | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_general_mysql500_ci | utf8 | 223 | | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_german2_ci | utf8 | 212 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_hungarian_ci | utf8 | 210 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_icelandic_ci | utf8 | 193 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_latvian_ci | utf8 | 194 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_lithuanian_ci | utf8 | 204 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_persian_ci | utf8 | 208 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_polish_ci | utf8 | 197 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_romanian_ci | utf8 | 195 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_roman_ci | utf8 | 207 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_sinhala_ci | utf8 | 211 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_slovak_ci | utf8 | 205 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_slovenian_ci | utf8 | 196 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_spanish2_ci | utf8 | 206 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_spanish_ci | utf8 | 199 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_swedish_ci | utf8 | 200 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_tolower_ci | utf8 | 76 | | Yes | 1 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_turkish_ci | utf8 | 201 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_unicode_520_ci | utf8 | 214 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_unicode_ci | utf8 | 192 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
| utf8_vietnamese_ci | utf8 | 215 | | Yes | 8 | PAD SPACE |
+----------------------------+---------+-----+---------+----------+---------+---------------+
也就是说，如果使用的字符集是 utf8，那么默认情况下是忽略空格的；而如果使用的字符集是 utf8mb4，那么默认情况下不会忽略空格。
验证：
mysql> SET NAMES utf8;
mysql> SELECT 'a ' = 'a';
+------------+
| 'a ' = 'a' |
+------------+
| 1 |
+------------+
mysql> SET NAMES utf8mb4;
mysql> SELECT 'a ' = 'a';
+------------+
| 'a ' = 'a' |
+------------+
| 0 |
+------------+
要避免这种不一致性，请使用 LIKE 或者 =BINARY 进行字符串比较。