How can whitespace affect the execution of SQL queries in PHP when using MySQL?

Whitespace can affect the execution of SQL queries in PHP when using MySQL by causing syntax errors or unexpected behavior. To solve this issue, you can trim whitespace from the beginning and end of the SQL query string before executing it.

$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = 'john_doe'";
$query = trim($query);

// Execute the SQL query
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);