A query language which is suitable for use with a relational data base system is discussed. The language is developed as an extension of ideas found in programming languages as well as relational calculus. The development is a step towards the integration of programming languages, query languages, and data base systems. The language offers a simple logical model of the way in which the query might be processed in order to simplify query construction. However, the model does not constrain the actual processing method used by the data base system. The language has a single construct, the relational expression, which appears in either a short or long form. The language provides a Uniform Notation for Expressing Queries (UNEQ) in that any retrieval request can be expressed by suitable nesting of this single construct. (Author)