[Python-Dev] Arguments of MatchObject in re module

[MRAB]

I've just noticed an oddity of the re module while looking at the
sources. I'll illustrate it below:

 >>> import re
 >>> p = re.compile("foo")
 >>> help(p.match)
Help on built-in function match:

match(...)
     match(string[, pos[, endpos]]) --> match object or None.
     Matches zero or more characters at the beginning of the string

 >>> p.match(string="foo")

Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<pyshell#8>", line 1, in <module>
     p.match(string="foo")
TypeError: Required argument 'pattern' (pos 1) not found
 >>>

The name of the first argument should be "string", yet it's "pattern".
Does anyone know if it's anything other than a mistake? Should it be
fixed in the next version of the re module, or are we just stuck with it
(and should just change the docstring to match)?