default.nix

with import <nixpkgs> { };

lib.fix (self: {
  simple = stdenv.mkDerivation {
    name = "simple";
    src = lib.cleanSource ./.;
    buildInputs = [ cairo ];
    nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
    installPhase = ''
      mkdir -p $out/bin
      cp simple $out/bin
    '';
  };
  output = runCommand "result" { buildInputs = [ self.simple ]; } ''
    mkdir $out
    cd $out
    simple
  '';
})

main.c

#include <cairo.h>

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
        cairo_surface_t *surface =
            cairo_image_surface_create (CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32, 240, 80);
        cairo_t *cr =
            cairo_create (surface);

        cairo_select_font_face (cr, "serif", CAIRO_FONT_SLANT_NORMAL, CAIRO_FONT_WEIGHT_BOLD);
        cairo_set_font_size (cr, 32.0);
        cairo_set_source_rgb (cr, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
        cairo_move_to (cr, 10.0, 50.0);
        cairo_show_text (cr, "Hello, world");

        cairo_destroy (cr);
        cairo_surface_write_to_png (surface, "hello.png");
        cairo_surface_destroy (surface);
        return 0;
}

Makefile

CFLAGS=$(shell pkg-config --cflags cairo)
LDFLAGS=$(shell pkg-config --libs cairo)

simple: main.o
	gcc $^ -o $@ $(LDFLAGS)

*.o: *.c
	gcc $< -c -o $@ $(CFLAGS)