Literal strings vs. object properties in JavaScript

JavaScript libraries in the same space (UI widgets) use two different approaches for instantiating components:

1. 
   

   Literal strings to specify types, and inlining as much as possible, for example:

   
   

   
   var oTable = webix.ui({
       view: "datatable",
       columns: [
           { id: "rank",   header: "", css:"rank", width: 50 },
           { id: "title",  header: "Film title", width: 200 },
           { id: "year",   header: "Released", width: 80 },
           { id: "votes",  header: "Votes", width: 100 }
       ],
       autoheight: true,
       autowidth: true,
       data: tableData
   });
   
   



2. 
   

   A complex class hierarchy and passing objects instead of strings:

   
   

   
   var oTable = new sap.ui.table.Table({
       title: "Movies",
   });
   
   
   oTable.addColumn(new sap.ui.table.Column({
       label: new sap.ui.commons.Label({text: "Film title"}),
       template: new sap.ui.commons.TextField().bindProperty("value", "title"),
       sortProperty: "title",
       filterProperty: "title",
       width: "200px"
   }));
   
   oTable.addColumn(new sap.ui.table.Column({
       label: new sap.ui.commons.Label({text: "Released"}),
       template: new sap.ui.commons.TextField().bindProperty("value", "released"),
       sortProperty: "released",
       filterProperty: "released",
       width: "80px"
   }));
   
   oTable.addColumn(new sap.ui.table.Column({
       label: new sap.ui.commons.Label({text: "Votes"}),
       template: new sap.ui.commons.TextField().bindProperty("value", "votes"),
       sortProperty: "votes",
       filterProperty: "votes",
       width: "100px"
   }));
   
   // add the other columns...
   
   var oModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel();
   oModel.setData({modelData: tableData});
   oTable.setModel(oModel);
   oTable.bindRows("/modelData");
   
   

In both cases, tableData is a plain JSON array, so no differences there:

[
    { id: 1, title: "Shawshank Redemption", year: 1994, votes: 678790, rank: 1 },
    { id: 2, title: "The Godfather", year: 1972, votes: 511495, rank: 2 }
]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches, in terms of learning curve, maintainability, avoidance of antipatterns, reusability, and other software engineering best practices?