Compression is always a hot topic among engineers and musicians alike and it's something you can't really understand until you use it yourself. You can read every forum, watch every YouTube video and read every mixing 101 book but the best way to learn about compression is to use your own ears and listen to how it affects different sounds.
Rather than do a huge post about compression, all the different parameters and countless applications of the tool, I want to focus solely on the 'attack' feature
The attack determines how fast the compressor will hit the transients presented to it which are ultimately decided by the threshold setting, the point at which the compressor kicks in.
The attack is such an important element of a compressor because it can enhance or completely squash and remove any transients in an audio signal and depending on what you're working with, you may apply either of those.
Keep in mind that the slower the attack, the more transients it will allow through, therefore giving you more perceived impact. The faster the attack, the more flat and even the signal will be. Both have useful applications, some instruments benefit more from each one for example - a slow attack on a snare drum will allow more of the transients to come through and using a fast attack on a guitar will clamp down on the transients that are usually unwanted in a performance.
Try playing with just the attack setting on your compressor and listen to how it affects the transients, the general idea with a slow attack is to give more impact by allowing more of the transients through.
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