The process whose specific outcome is the progression of the compound eye over time, from its formation to the mature structure. The compound eye is an organ of sight that contains multiple repeating units, often arranged hexagonally. Each unit has its own lens and photoreceptor cell(s) and can generate either a single pixelated image or multiple images, per eye. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye GOC:jid GOC:mtg_sensu ]