I have a triple, with an 11-28 rear cassette on a 48 cm carbon unisex frame, with WSD short/shallow bars and short reach brifters (Ultegra). I also have a custom titanium road bike compact double that has a mountain rear derailleur, with more relaxed geometry, with a combo of 105/Ultegra components, as the short reach brifters are not made in Ultegra anymore. The short reach brifters on the titanium bike are about 2 mm further away from the brake levers and that is a huge difference for me, though it sounds like nothing. I cannot easily grab the brakes from the drops, unless my hands are far up the bars. The shape of these WSD bars are slightly different and I need to change this.
As far as the compact VS triple. Well, I live in a hillier area and I have gone from a 12-25 to an 11-28 rear derailleur on my triple, as I age. I have no difficulty on the unisex frame, even though I am 5' 1" and about 105 pounds. This bike is twitchy, though. But, I love the way it feels. I had a lot of difficulty getting used to the widely spaced gearing on the compact. My average speed was lower for quite a few months. However, the feel of titanium trumped that and I ended up getting used to being in a harder gear while pedaling on the flats. Because of the mountain bike RD, I can spin up really steep hills at about 4 mph. At almost age 59, I am happy with this.
I know compacts are the thing now, but if I was getting my first road bike now, if I couldn't get the gearing range I have now (the mountain RD) and I lived in a hilly area, I would go for the triple. In a lot of places a compact with a 25 or 27 rear cog is fine. A close friend who started riding about 4 years ago bought a Ruby Expert last year and they set it up with the same gearing as I have on the compact, except it has SRAM. She is not a strong climber and she is very happy with this set up.
And by the way, I have managed to drop my chain on the compact on both the front and rear . But, as an experienced rider, I can get it back on while I am riding... when I couldn't, DH adjusted it and it's fine now.