The latest articles on Forem by Nick Zykov (@zykovn). https://forem.com/zykovn https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3647665%2F82e356c2-7179-447a-9486-f17b052ebb39.png https://forem.com/zykovn en Nick Zykov Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:31:11 +0000 https://forem.com/zykovn/your-payment-model-is-probably-lying-to-52if https://forem.com/zykovn/your-payment-model-is-probably-lying-to-52if <p>Every payment system starts the same way: one table, one provider, ship it.</p> <p>Then the second provider arrives. Then retry logic. Then partial refunds. Then you realize the model you built on day one is lying to you. </p> <p>I went through this — and instead of patching it, I started over with one question: what is a payment as a business concept? </p> <p>The result is a domain model built around DDD and hexagonal architecture: Payment as intent, PaymentAttempt as action, channels (Card, Crypto, P2P, Cash) each with their own state machine, and provider ports that keep the domain clean.</p> <p>Full writeup with code, diagrams, and the reasoning behind every decision:<br><br> 👉 <a href="https://corner4.dev/reinventing-payment-how-i-evolved-a-domain-model-from-one-table-to-ddd" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://corner4.dev/reinventing-payment-how-i-evolved-a-domain-model-from-one-table-to-ddd</a></p> <p>The code is open source: <a href="https://github.com/payroad/payroad-core" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/payroad/payroad-core</a> </p> php ddd architecture fintech