JavaScript is a full-fledged, independent programming language, while jQuery is a JavaScript library. This means jQuery is built on top of JavaScript, designed to simplify common web development tasks and provide cross-browser compatibility. 

jQuery was created in 2006 by John Resig. It was designed to handle Browser Incompatibilities and to simplify HTML DOM Manipulation, Event Handling, Animations, and Ajax.

For more than 10 years, jQuery has been the most popular JavaScript library in the world. However, after JavaScript Version 5 (2009), most of the jQuery utilities can be solved with a few lines of standard JavaScript:

JavaScript vs jQuery :

Performance:

For very simple operations, native JavaScript can sometimes be faster than jQuery due to the overhead of the library. However, for complex tasks involving multiple DOM manipulations or animations, jQuery's optimized functions can often be more efficient.

Browser Compatibility:

Historically, jQuery was highly valued for its ability to abstract away browser inconsistencies, making it easier to write code that worked across different browsers. While modern JavaScript has improved in this regard, jQuery still offers a streamlined approach for cross-browser compatibility.

Dependency:

JavaScript can function independently. jQuery, however, requires the JavaScript language to operate, as it is essentially a set of JavaScript functions.