@staticmethod
def read_file(filename):
    """
        Reads the lines of a file into a list, and returns the list
        :param filename: String - path and name of the file
        :return: List - lines within the file
        """
    lines = []
    with open(filename) as f:
        for line in f:
            if len(line.strip()) != 0:
                lines.append(line.strip())
    return lines
