jQuery is a cross-browser JavaScript library designed to simplify the client-side scripting of HTML.
It was released in January 2006 at BarCamp NYC by John Resig. Used by over 41% of the 10,000 most visited websites, jQuery is the most popular JavaScript library in use today.
jQuery is free, open source software, dual-licensed under the MIT License and the GNU General Public License, Version 2.
jQuery's syntax is designed to make it easier to navigate a document, select DOM elements, create animations, handle events, and develop Ajax applications. jQuery also provides capabilities for developers to create plugins on top of the JavaScript library. Using these facilities, developers are able to create abstractions for low-level interaction and animation, advanced effects and high-level, theme-able widgets. This contributes to the creation of powerful and dynamic web pages.
Microsoft and Nokia have announced plans to bundle jQuery on their platforms.
Microsoft adopting it initially within Visual Studio for use within Microsoft's ASP.NET AJAX framework and ASP.NET MVC Framework while Nokia has integrated it into their Web Run-Time widget development platform.