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I have had some confusion because I know there are some L3 switches that will do routing.
Actually any L3 switch should be capable of routing, that's what makes it a L3 switch. Of course, a L3 switch might not be configured to route, i.e. it could operating just as a L2 switch.
. . . how you know if the device you are working on is a router or a switch.
You might go by what the manufacturer says, but they can confuse the issue depending on how they want to market the device. For example, Cisco's 6500 was sold as a L2 switch, while its 7600 was sold as router, yet they could use the same supervisor, the same line cards, and the same software. Different labels on the chassis, though. ;)
Generally a L2 switch cannot route packets, a router cannot switch frames, while a L3 switch can do either.
