python reading a file into a list code example

Example 1: python read text file into a list

text_file = open("filename.dat", "r")
lines = text_file.readlines()
print lines
print len(lines)
text_file.close()

Example 2: how to read from a file into a list in python

f = open(filename, "r")
   listItems = f.read().splitlines()