Python keeps refering to outdated variables

Question

I have a kinda weird problem, here is my attempt at an explanation:

I'm currently making a program which opens a txt file and then reads a line for that file, using the following command linecache.getline(path,number), after the function is done I then use commmand linecache.clearcache.

If I then change something in the text file it keeps returning the pre-changed line.

Following is the code I'm using (I know it aint really pretty)

def SR(Path,LineNumber):    
    returns = lc.getline(Path,LineNumber)      
    x = np.array([])
    y = np.array([])
    words = returns.split()
    for word in words:
        x = np.append([x],[word])

    for i in range(len(x)):
        t = float(x[i])
        y = np.append([y],[t])
    return y
    del x
    del y
    del t
    del words
    lc.clearcache()

Answer 1

Nothing after the return statement will ever be executed. If you want to call clearcache, you need to call it before the return statement.

Also, as a side note, your del statements aren't really going to do anything either, even if they were placed before the return. del effectively just decrements the reference counter in the gc, which will happen when the interpreter exits the function scope anyway.