Depends on what you want to shoot and how big a camera you want to carry around. The compacts are great these days with high picture resolution but they trip up with fast moving stuff. This is because they have to calculate all the shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc and then fire the shot. If you go for a SLR then you have control over all this and you'll notice it takes the shot instantly as appossed to a 2 second delay. (Which is years in camera terms) Down side is the SLR's are bigger and won't fit in your pocket like a compact.
My advice if your serious is an SLR for the important stuff and a compact for all the fun night out sort of stuff. Happy shooting!