title: Why does Realm use RealmOptional<Int> rather than Int? for optional properties?
body: <p>Realm's <a href="https://realm.io/docs/swift/latest/#optional-properties" rel="nofollow">documentation on optional properties</a> states:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><code>String</code>, <code>NSDate</code>, and <code>NSData</code> properties can be declared as optional or non-optional using the standard Swift syntax. Optional numeric types are declared using <a href="https://realm.io/docs/swift/latest/api/Classes/RealmOptional.html" rel="nofollow"><code>RealmOptional</code></a>.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Why do numeric types use the non-standard <code>RealmOptional</code> rather than Swift's built-in optional syntax?</p>