Compound Bow vs Composite Bow
If you're new to archery there are a few terms that you should be aware of.
A self bow is a bow made from one piece of wood - like a longbow or flatbow.
A composite bow can be made up of many types of wood and other materials - like a horse bow.
A laminated bow is made up of fiberglass and wood in layers - like a modern recurve bow.
A compound bow has cables and pulleys and wheels and dohickeys and thingamajigs - like most modern hunting bows.
Also, whilst we're on the subject, a traditional longbow and a traditional flatbow are both self bows, but made with different parts of the wood. A longbow has a "D" shape because it's made with both the sapwood and the heartwood of a tree. A flatbow has a flat shape and can be made with a much wider type of wood.
I'm loving all the recent interest in archery - keep at it, people!