jQuery is a JavaScript framework, purpose is to make it much easier to use JavaScript on your website. jQuery as an abstraction layer, since it takes a lot of the functionality that you would have to write many lines of JavaScript to accomplish and wraps it into functions that you can call with a single line of code.
Important note is JQuery doesn't replace Javascript. The code you write in JQuery is still a Javascript in behind.
The power, the wide range of plugins and the beautiful syntax is what makes jQuery such a great framework.
Learning curve: You don't have to be javascript expert to learn JQuery. You can start learning JQuery with little knowledge in Javascript.
Here are few important links,
http://jquery.com/[
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http://docs.jquery.com/How_jQuery_Works[
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http://www.noupe.com/jquery/50-amazing-jquery-examples-part1.html[
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http://datatables.net/[
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Hope this helps.
cheers