[windows]: something about the mapping between elf and vas

Question

I read something from wiki about Virtual Address Space (VAS).

One thing I don't understand, I'm not sure whether I understand it correctly. Here is it:

the application's EXE file is mapped into the VAS. Addresses in the process VAS are mapped to bytes in the exe file. The OS manages the mapping:

           0                                            4GB
VAS        |---vvvvvvv------------------------------------|
mapping        |-----|
file bytes     app.exe

My stupid question is what does it mean by 'mapped into the VAS'? Does it mean the exe file will be loaded into the physical mem?

Answer 1

The VAS, as it names implies, is a virtual space, so it doesn't need to be related to a physical one. That's up to the memory manager where to load it (physical memory or virtual memory or whatever).