# When mapping a route what is the difference between a route and a resource

**URL:** <https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/when-mapping-a-route-what-is-the-difference-between-a-route-and-a-resource/7387>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [February 23, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/when-mapping-a-route-what-is-the-difference-between-a-route-and-a-resource/7387 "2015-02-23T10:40:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bailey86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bailey86](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/bailey86)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/when-mapping-a-route-what-is-the-difference-between-a-route-and-a-resource/7387/1 "2015-02-23T10:40:52Z")

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I see when mapping that we can set this.route or this.resource.

What is the general difference between the two - when would I use one or the other. I thought it was to do with collections of data.