code: def _parse_dict(cls, value):
          
          separator = '='
          result = {}
          for line in cls._parse_list(value):
              key, sep, val = line.partition(separator)
              if sep != separator:
                  raise DistutilsOptionError(
                      'Unable to parse option value to dict: %s' % value)
              result[key.strip()] = val.strip()
  
          return result
docs: Represents value as a dict.
  
          :param value:
          :rtype: dict