code: def read_file(filename):
          
          lines = []
          with open(filename) as f:
              for line in f:
                  if len(line.strip()) != 0:
                      lines.append(line.strip())
          return lines
docs: 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