Andrew said:
Capacitance value for one thing. Ceramics cover from 1pF up to just short
of 1uF. Then, there's some overlap as electrolytics and tants take over for
larger values. Tants tend to be physically smaller than electrolytics for
the same capacitance / voltage rating. For really large values,
electrolytics are your only choice.
Another difference: ceramics are not polarity sensitive.
Those three are not the only types: there's polystyrene, polyester layer,
monolithic ceramic .... each offering different performance in terms of
precision, temperature stability, physical size, voltage rating,
self-resonant frequency ....
If the capacitance and rated voltage match, it may be possible to substitute
an electrolytic for a tant, or vice-versa.
Minor nit - I use 100uF ceramics (Panasonic). Not suitable at anything
approaching a high voltage, but great below 5V.
Whether devices can be substituted depends where it is used. All caps
have other specifications, such as ESR (equivalent series resistance),
ESL (Equivalent series inductance), leakage, ripple performance, surge
performance, rms current handling and a host of other variations due to
environmental conditions as well as the ones listed by Andrew.
In feedback loops esr, in particular, becomes a critical issue. See for
instance, the datasheet linked here:
http://www.national.com/pf/LP/LP3961.html
In the application hints, you'll find the output esr and input C - esr
are considered (and important for loop stability).
The other characteristics of the various types of cap can become issues
in other circuits.
Another quick example: tantalums have relatively poor surge performance
(they can become spectacularly pyrotechnic), so choosing one where such
a surge may exist is not as simple as looking at rms handling and
capacitance.
So the answer is not a simple yes or no - as always in engineering 'It
Depends'
Cheers
PeteS