Codex: Wrong type for $post->post_author?

If I do var_dump( $post->post_author ) inside the single.php loop I get string '1' (length=1).

The Codex states the post_author (The ID of the post author) property is of type integer.

Does this mean the Codex is wrong?

Ref: http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/$post