[MaxBarraclough]

I'd describe the pattern in slightly different terms: when done right, restrictions in a programming language (or library/framework) are liberating for the programmer.

The restriction of immutability spares the programmer from worrying about whether unknown parts of the codebase are going to decide to mutate an object.

JavaScript's single-thread restriction (not counting web-workers) closes the door on all manner of nasty concurrent-programming problems that can arise in languages that promote overuse of threads. (Last I checked, NetBeans uses over 20 threads.)

Back to the example at hand, C has no restrictions, but that hobbles the programmer when it comes to reasoning about the way memory is handled in a program. It's completely free-form. Rust takes a more restrictive approach, and even enables automated reasoning. (Disclaimer: I don't know much about Rust.)