def parse(argv):
  """Parse optional list of keyword arguments into a dict.
  
  Parses a list of keyword arguments defined by a leading ``--`` and separated by ``=`` (for example, --key=value).
  
  Args:
    argv (listof str):
      Keyword dict to use as an update.
  
  Examples::
  
    # Import the kwconfig module
    import kwconfig
    
    # Create a sample list of keyword arguments
    argv = ['--key1=value1', '--key2=value2']
    
    # Parse into a keyword dict
    kwdict = kwconfig.parse(argv)
    
    # View the values of key1 and key2
    print('key1: ' + kwdict['key1'])
    print('key2: ' + kwdict['key2'])
  """
  kwdict = {}
  for kv in argv:
    k, v = kv.split('=', 1)
    kwdict[k.strip('-')] = v
  return(kwdict)