In Visual Studio, with WPF I got in the habit of keeping the XAML and designer open at the same time. Once I got comfortable with XAML itself, I found editing it much faster than working through the designer. Having them open side by side (or top/bottom) also helped me as I was learning as I could make changes to the markup and immediately see the results of what that change meant.
In the Android UI designer, I get tabs for Design and Source - but no way to mix the two. Is there a way to do this?
Thanks!