Why SUM(`column`) returns a string instead of an integer?
<p>I'm using Laravel and have a query that selects using <code>DB::raw()</code> <code>SUM()</code> of a column:</p>

<p><code>DB::raw("SUM(points) as game_points")</code></p>

<p>I have installed <a href="http://php.net/manual/en/book.mysqlnd.php" rel="noreferrer">mysqldn</a> and AFAIK Laravel uses <code>PDO</code>.</p>

<p>But <code>game_points</code> is a string, no matter what type of the column is. (<em>It's an integer column</em>) </p>

<p>Also if I do: </p>

<p><code>DB::raw("COUNT(id) as foo_bar")</code></p>

<p><code>foo_bar</code> is returned as an integer.</p>