How is a non-programmer supposed to understand best practices, redundancies in code, or time to implement a complex class?

I've been programming my entire life and I still wouldn't be able to tell you if a Python class follows best practices simply because I don't know enough python.

The problem is that a non-programmer can't quantify what makes a good programmer any more than a non-mathematician can tell who writes the best topology proofs.

I suppose anyone can get a feel for who "gets shit done" and who doesn't, but then you're measuring something much less tangible than "programming".