The easy approach is to install and use Inline::C to generate the XS scaffolding for your code. After that, you throw away Inline::C and only use its output.

If you don't know how to install Inline::C, the easy approach is outlined in the following steps:

1. Install local::lib (because you don't want to pollute the system Perl)
2. Set your environment variables like local::lib proposes
3. Download cpanm from http://cpanmin.us
4. Run the following command:

   cpanm Inline::C
   [download]

You now have Inline::C and its prerequisites installed in a local directory and can use Inline::C to generate much of the XS code for you.