Python function to read a list of contacts from a given file.

read_contacts.py

# Function to read the contacts from a given contact file and return a
# list of names and email addresses
def get_contacts(filename):
    names = []
    emails = []
    with open(filename, mode='r', encoding='utf-8') as contacts_file:
        for a_contact in contacts_file:
            names.append(a_contact.split()[0])
            emails.append(a_contact.split()[1])
    return names, emails

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:/Users/Lenovo/Desktop/Mailing.py", line 43, in
for name, email in zip(names, emails):
NameError: name 'names' is not defined

I am getting this error. Can some please help?

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/send-emails-using-code-4fcea9df63f

I got an index error: list index out of range in line: names.append(a_contact.split()[0]). A half month ago, when I tried it first time, it was successfully executed, but after a period of time, I got an error above