def read_column_data_from_txt(fname):
datafile = open(fname)<EOL>datarows = []<EOL>for line in datafile:<EOL><INDENT>datarows.append([float(li) for li in line.split()])<EOL><DEDENT>datacols = list(zip(*datarows))<EOL>x_values = datacols[<NUM_LIT:1>:]<EOL>y_values = datacols[<NUM_LIT:0>]<EOL>return x_values, y_values<EOL>
Read data from a simple text file.

Format should be just numbers.
First column is the dependent variable. others are independent.
Whitespace delimited.

Returns
-------
x_values : list
    List of x columns
y_values : list
    list of y values