[[CamelContext-CamelContext]]
= CamelContext

The
https://www.javadoc.io/doc/org.apache.camel/camel-api/latest/org/apache/camel/CamelContext.html[CamelContext]
represents a single Camel routing rulebase. You use the CamelContext in
a similar way to the Spring
http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/javadoc-api/org/springframework/context/ApplicationContext.html[ApplicationContext].

See xref:lifecycle.adoc[Lifecycle] to understand the overall lifecycle
of the CamelContext.

