I'm not sure if this is a super dumb question, I thought I'd ask anyway...
Is Sencha it's own language - the way keywords and conventions you need to use?
I've spent loooads of time now getting my head around Sencha Touch
It seems like any other language - but definitely seems to be custom to Sencha
But I know what you mean, xtype configuration looks like a special language. Remember that xtype configuration objects are still just javascript short-hand object notation, and they are basically parameters to a constructor function of a component or class.